Things Remembered
by levi-nii-san
Summary: It took him three years to return after the war ended. Now, Sasuke told himself he would have been prepared for anything she threw at him, granted it was either a tearful affair or blind rage. He did not expect her to just completely forget who he is. [SasuSaku] [NaruHina] Blank Period.
1. Prologue

**Summary** **:** Now, Sasuke told himself he would have been prepared for anything she threw at him when they saw each other again, granted it was either a tearful reunion or pure rage. He did not expect her to just completely forget who he is.

 **A/N:** Oh snap, guys, I'm back again. I'm rewriting one of my old ones called "Things Remembered". It's still up if you want to read it, but this one will be more worth your time haha.

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

Sasuke took a deep breath.

Today marked three years since the Fourth Shinobi World War ended, and Sasuke had turned twenty no more than three months ago. Things were so different now. Although it may not seem like a lot of time, the three years he spent on his redemption journey was truly the most fulfilling experience he has been through.

It took about three weeks for things in the larger villages to calm down after the war ended. And before he decided he had anywhere else to be, Sasuke remained in Konoha for those three weeks. It was a very busy time for the village, so he didn't get to see much of what he wanted to, namely his busy friends.

So then, Sasuke thought, if everything that was broken is now under repair and restoration, he ought to be too.

This made him feel a little left out, to be honest, since his friends were so busy helping the entire world recover, and he was just an outsider waiting to be welcomed back. Of course, nobody ever said this to his face; he just assumed with the given circumstances. He might have only ran into them a few times, but their interactions were barely more than a "Hey, I'm super busy right now, we can hang out later!" It kind of made him feel like a small child whose parents were always too busy to hang around.

On top of that he also felt much guilt seeing the village in its ruined state. Despite being a changed man, knowing he still contributed to the downfall of his own home inevitably swept him with guilt. Even if most of the village was very open about accepting him and starting over.

So, of course, Sasuke did not stay very long.

Now, he wasn't _just_ sulking. Sasuke wasn't upset that he didn't belong just because everyone was too busy. He knew he had a lot of growing up to do before he could truly make amends.

And he had no regrets leaving again. Perhaps the only thing he could have done differently was not have been so vague, especially to Sakura. He knew he had kept her waiting for well over four years, and now she was going to have to keep waiting, this time for an indefinite amount of time. He still remembers the look of hope that flashed in her expression when he last saw her.

" _My sins have nothing to do with you," Sasuke told her gently. She immediately looked down, clearly hurt by this._

 _Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. He didn't mean it in a bad way at all. Perhaps she assumed he meant that he had done nothing wrong to or with her, or that she wasn't important enough to consider in his situation. His issues were a personal problem, and now he was internally punching himself in the face for making her feel this way._

 _Since when did he feel this guilty about seeing her so hurt anyway? It's been such a long time. The feeling was so vaguely familiar. The bittersweet nostalgia slightly pulled the corners of his mouth into a barely visible smile. Is this what it felt like to love again?_

 _For a moment, he almost considered taking her with him._

 _He stepped towards her, closing some of the distance._

" _I'll see you when I get back." he tapped her forehead and gave her a small smile._

 _Sakura looked up at him and he could have sworn he stopped breathing for a second. She was very close to him - closer than anyone had ever been of this nature. Her eyes were so bright; it filled him with optimism to see that it was indeed possible to be this happy, and to know that this is what he had to look forward to coming home to._

 _He read a hundred different things she wanted to say, just by the way she looked at him. And for a brief moment, Sasuke considered actually taking her with him. But there was no turning back now, and Kakashi was right_ there _._

 _He broke eye contact before the urge to sweep her up and just make a run for it became any stronger, and bid them all one last goodbye._

For the first few months that he was gone, Sasuke wrote to Naruto and Sakura. They were mostly short, and casual conversations of the "how are you, what have you been up to" nature. But after a while, he discovered that keeping contact with them only made him want to return prematurely. Hesitantly, he gave them a brief "we'll talk again when I return" and promptly ended communication for the next two and a half years.

So, now, Sasuke stood about a mile from Konohagakure, with no previous notification that he would be returning. After all, he didn't want a grand welcoming committee waiting at the gates when he came back. And maybe part of him just wanted to see their surprised faces when he returned without a heads up.

He could see the gates from where he stood and sighed; at some point in his journey this is exactly what he had been waiting for. It had been what he wanted the most, enough to drive him to turn around and head back. But now he was having second thoughts again at the sight of the gates.

There was a large pot of built-up internal conflict about returning that was now triggered by being so close to his arrival. His entire journey had been dedicated to understanding himself and seeing things from a clearer perspective, but he never actually dealt with the guilt of betraying everyone. Granted, now that he was more at peace with himself, it wouldn't be nearly as hard to confront that monster as it would have been three years ago.

But still, it was a process that he never started.

At first, he thought about how damn awkward it will initially be. It's not that he would really take to heart what everyone could possibly say. He couldn't care less about the opinion of people who had no idea who he really was and what he had been through. He understood his image wasn't exactly pristine at this point.

It was just fucking awkward.

Then Sasuke thought about the consequences that awaited his return. Sure, he had good word from Naruto, the hero of the village, and Kakashi, sixth Hokage himself. But surely there were people who would be adamantly against just pardoning an S-ranked criminal. And on top of that he would have to be burdened with probation or some other form of punishment that would just be annoying more than anything.

Finally, Sasuke thought about what he would be doing back in the village. He had been so content with travelling. It felt so liberating to be able to come and go at his own free will without judgement. Freedom was a nice thing to the last Uchiha at this point. But even then, he couldn't convince himself that that was the lifestyle he truly wanted for the rest of his life.

Returning was the ultimate goal, although his heart was telling him to go home, every other part of his body said to turn around.

He sat down on top of a nearby tree branch and tried to calm down before he made any more life decisions. His mind was spinning, and soon enough it became harder to breathe. The clearing was empty and quiet, but his surroundings suddenly felt tight and constricting. He felt panic build up and increase exponentially within his mind, and each second seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time.

He shut his eyes tighter to try to block out his surroundings, but it only made him plunge deeper into his panic.

Then he heard a voice.

"Sasuke. It's been a while." he opened his eyes, and suddenly there was only a blinding white light, and his older brother.

"Itachi…" he breathed out. He stood up clumsily and took a few steps toward him. He couldn't believe it. He could have sworn the last time they ever spoke would be the _last_ time they ever spoke. Then he remembered all his troubles, and perhaps why his brother decided to show up in the first place. "What do I do?"

"I don't know," the older Uchiha shrugged, so nonchalantly it almost made Sasuke mad. Wasn't he here to help him? What was he doing being so vague? "What do you want?"

"That's not helpful." He grunted.

"Sure it is. Since you won't admit it to yourself maybe you'll at least tell me." Itachi smiled. "Go on."

"I guess...I want to return to Konoha."

"Then what's stopping you from doing what you want?"

Sasuke looked down. He felt so guilty, so bad, so unforgivable. He may have been able to accept himself, but the acceptance of others was different. He knew returning to Konoha would have its pros and cons.

But ultimately, would his return be a good thing?

"Don't go back to the village then if you're so worried it's not worth it." Itachi closed the distance and ungracefully poked his brother's forehead, causing him to look up. His stare was very gentle, and for a moment Sasuke remembered Sakura's gentle gaze. "Turn around; go home."

"What the hell is home anymore? You know I can't go back to the Uchiha district."

Itachi chuckled. "Home isn't necessarily a place, otouto. Think about it: when you carry out missions and run errands all day, and you're absolutely exhausted by the end of the day, where do you want to go when you're finished? Where do you find peace? Or how about this: after a night of drinking and going crazy, where do you go to recharge?"

He wondered for a moment where he really did want to end up after this whole redemption thing. Was it really Konoha? What was it about this village that was so welcoming, anyway? Was it the fact that their Hokage was his former sensei whom he considered like a second father? Or maybe it was the fact that his best friend lived there?

Perhaps those things definitely contributed to what drew Sasuke back to the village hidden in the leaves.

But then he thought about Sakura.

He remembered how hopeful she looked when she knew she would expect him back. Suddenly, the image of "home" became clear. No matter how much he helped other people, now he just wanted to help her. No matter how much of the world he saw, he realized he now wanted to show her. No matter how much he had grown, now he wanted to see how much she had grown too. He had learned so much, and the next step was to go home.

He remembered his dreams to restore the Uchiha Clan, and although the Uchiha district was in no shape to be called home again, he knew as long as he had her, he would be alright, in time.

The mere thought of her brought a sense of comfortable peace in his mind, and along with his brother's pep talk, he seemed to calm down significantly.

And then he thought about how it would be literally coming home to her every day. It would be so inviting and relaxing instead of coming home to darkness and isolation like had gotten used to. Sounds of "tadaima" and "okaeri" would echo whenever he returned. Sleeping would be easier with company, and meals would be much less lonely. It was such a nice thing to look forward to.

He was tired, exhausted, he needed to go home.

Sasuke's cheeks were tainted with pink, and he had to look away. Itachi seemed to understand.

"If you want to know where your heart is, look where your mind goes when it wanders." he chuckled lovingly. "It looks like you've already got it figured out."

"How do I know for sure?"

"Love is a weird thing, otouto. It makes you do weird things. It makes you think weird things. It's confusing as shit. But in the end, the good news is it's not a hard thing to realize. You'll know."

"I miss her," he admitted shyly. The almighty Sasuke Uchiha had never admitted anything like that before. It was new. It was refreshing.

"I know. I see it in your eyes. If she is your home, do you think it's time? Only you know the desires of your heart."

"That's corny, nii-san."

"Well," Itachi laughed. "You were thinking it."

"Hn,"

"I'm proud of you, Sasuke. You're doing a great job."

When Sasuke looked up again he saw trees. A faint smile decorated his face. Feeling much more at peace than he did twenty minutes ago, he stood up and dusted his pants before taking another deep breath and heading for the gates.


	2. Chapter 01

**A/N:** So I'm gonna try to make this more canon now that I'm actually aware of how things ended lolol. I enjoy writing Sasuke. I feel him on a spiritual level. Send me some love, hit that review button! Merry Christmas!

* * *

 **CHAPTER 01**

Sasuke stood before the sixth Hokage, who seemed to be writing something important, but Sasuke swore he was just stalling to piss him off. He couldn't even remember the last time he set foot in this very room. Maybe it was for some mission back when he was twelve. Nevertheless, it gave him a sort of warm, welcoming feeling. It felt a little like home.

His walk through the village to the office was quite an adventure. Konoha certainly was a lot different from what he remembered. They did a wonderful job repairing what was broken and decorating the city a more modern touch to the atmosphere.

New, modern buildings painted the skyline and small box televisions adorned every other corner with either the news or some entertainment. The streets were much cleaner, and buildings that used to be old and rundown were patched up. There were large billboard advertisements that caught your attention wherever you turned.

He wondered for a moment if the Uchiha district was also renovated.

Sasuke decided to take his time and really take in what his home looks like now. It carried the same positive aura as it did before he left, except now he could finally see it in a different light. Most of the villagers were more than surprised to see him back. Whether they knew him personally or not didn't seem to matter because they all had a look of shock as he walked by. Some nodded and smiled at the eye contact, others got a little defensive.

And then of course, there is always that group that talks shit.

If there was anything that triggered Sasuke, it was people assuming things about him. He really realized how much of the village still looks down on him, seeing him as a traitor or downright a terrorist. He had to refrain from chopping their heads off as he continued walking; he was trying to rebuild his reputation after all.

Still, he couldn't help that it stung a little when he would hear them talk, despite the fact that they didn't know a thing about him or what he has been through. It felt a bit like a sucker punch to the gut whenever some unknowing blockhead would start talking a little too loudly about their assumptions.

" _Is that the Uchiha kid? He's back again? What does he want this time?"_

" _I thought he left for good, why can't he make up his mind?"_

" _Please," one of them scoffs, "I don't know what his deal is. Maybe he gets kicked out of all the other villages for all his crimes so he keeps trying to come back here."_

Sasuke had never been one to care at all about what people said, especially about him. But now that he actually intended on staying in Konoha, those things mattered for once. It was a strange feeling, Sasuke mused.

"So, Uchiha Sasuke." Kakashi finally spoke up. He kept his gaze down at the papers, still scribbling furiously. "How long do you plan on staying here before you leave again?

Sasuke looked slightly taken aback.

"I _don't_ plan on leaving again." He stated with complete confidence.

Maybe if he started with that he could get some bonus points.

"I see," the older man finally looked up at him. "You lived in Oto for a while. And the rest of the Akatsuki members settled down in Amegakure. Why did you return to Konoha?"

Now he was just doing this on purpose. He knew that Kakashi knew why he was back; he just wanted to hear the prideful boy say it. Sasuke decided to humor him anyway. "My friends are here."

Sure enough, the older man chuckled at this. "Well I never thought I would hear that from you, Sasuke."

Slightly flustered, Sasuke broke eye contact and looked at his feet. "You don't have to be an ass."

"Is that how you speak to authority?"

He looked up, smug as ever. "That's how I speak to my elders."

Kakashi's face fell, but he smiled under his mask. "I'm have to get used to this Sasuke. You gotta give me time. For eight years, the image of you in my head was just this annoying, brooding teenager, and now here you are making constructive life decisions and taking jabs at my age."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Sasuke's mouth. It felt really nice to finally hear some positive words about his character development from someone other than his best friends. Perhaps people really did start to see that he was a changed man. It kept his spirits up.

Then he added, "But I'm sure people here are still getting used to you. You have to be patient with them. There's a lot of change going on in the village; it's quite overwhelming, if you can imagine."

Sasuke made a sound in agreement. But he still felt the slightest hint of uneasiness. The next thing he asked came out of nowhere, and it honestly surprised him too. But something about seeing his old childhood mentor in front of him looking so caring and gentle prompted him to ask, "Am I on the right track?"

Kakashi was surprised, to say the least. He straightened up, cleared his throat, and attempted to give some useful advice. "Well, I definitely think you are making good progress, Sasuke."

"I've wasted so much time," was his only reply.

"Well you can't feel bad about being a late bloomer. It's not like you had the luxury of a great, nurtured childhood. Now don't worry, you're not the only one who suffered traumatic events that led to some bad choices growing up.

In case you haven't noticed, the last few generations have been pretty unfortunate to have grown up in such terrible times. But you see, this next group of kids is very lucky. They must be nurtured so that history doesn't repeat itself, which is the very reason Sakura founded the children's mental hospital."

Sasuke's interest was piqued. So, this is what she's been up to after they stopped writing.

Kakashi saw this and grinned. "Ah, sorry, I got off track. I just like to brag about my kids."

"Hn," Sasuke would be lying if he said he didn't care, but he wasn't going to put himself through further teasing by admitting that the subject of his former teammate caught his interest.

"So, for what it's worth, you're doing a great job. Your efforts and progress are not unnoticed; just give it time. You have a whole life ahead of you, Sasuke."

"Hn. Thank you," his face softened and he seemed to relax a lot, so Kakashi took this as a go to change the subject.

"Now, you're going to need a place to stay. You should probably get on that as soon as you can."

"Then...am I off the hook?"

"I mean I can send you to jail to pay for your crimes, if that's what you want. In theory, that's what I'm supposed to do." Sasuke stood there for a moment, actually contemplating whether he deserved such a fitting punishment. "I'm joking. You're dismissed."

But before he is able to leave the room, the former fifth Hokage barges in: her steps were slightly off, and her cheeks were flushed. She scanned the room lazily and then heads towards the Hokage's desk.

Kakashi sighs, "Are you drunk?"

"No," she grunted. Sasuke stepped aside to make room for her. She seemed to notice he was there, but it didn't look like it concerned her. In fact, it looked like it took all her effort to make it look like she was walking in a straight line. "Alright, yeah I am. I drink to forget, Hatake."

"At 11 in the morning?"

"Bite me." Sasuke took this as his signal to leave.

"I don't know what to do about this new medical program for all the villages. I can't just send all my medics to go help at their requests. And the other villages are expecting so much. We're not even short staffed, but with the demands of the other villages we might soon be."

"Just send Sakura." Sasuke was halfway out the door when he heard this. Kakashi notices out of the corner of his eye and chuckles.

"I need her around here." Tsunade frowned.

"No, you _want_ her around," Kakashi laughed. "If you're going to send anyone, she seems like our best bet. That way you don't have to lose a large chunk of your staff – quality over quantity, no?"

"I suppose it'll be good for diplomatic reasons to send our best medic." Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do you have anything else I can work on for now? I don't want to think about this anymore."

Kakashi hands her another folder and she walks out, grumbling a little.

"Sakura is leaving?" He waited for Tsunade to be out of earshot.

The Hokage leaned back in his chair, trying his best not to succumb to the stress. "I guess so, if the Godaime is willing to let her go. Sakura has been running the hospital since reconstruction so Tsunade has gotten pretty comfortable."

He paused to see if his former student would say anything. "If you want to see her, you should probably do that as soon as possible." When he got a blank stare in response, he continued, "You can check the hospital but they may or may not let you in for personal reasons if it's busy."

Sasuke grunted in response, turning his face in slight embarrassment in case his sensei wanted to make any more fun of him for today.

"Now, you have to be careful. The last thing I want is for you to come in here in handcuffs from some wild accusation. That's just more work for me."

"Ah, don't worry," he waved his hand on his way out. "I'll be fine."

* * *

When she found him in the market that week, Sakura swore she fell victim to an episode of cardiac arrest.

There was no mistaking someone else for Uchiha Sasuke, and Sakura knew she wasn't just imagining things again. This was the first time she has seen him in years, and boy was he making a damn good first impression.

He seemed so cool and content. It was a strange sight, really. From everything she knows he's been through, a grocery store seems like that last place you could find Uchiha Sasuke casually strolling through. And yet, there he was. He looked so handsome, as expected. His hair fell down the side of his face to conceal one of his eyes. He stood straight, confidently.

Something about the way he looked at things so tenderly and calmly made Sakura's heart flutter. His aura felt a lot brighter and much more inviting than she ever remembered.

And just like eight years ago, Sakura was entranced.

He seemed to be looking for something. Someone? Her perhaps?

"Nah," Sakura dismissed the thought. "He can't be looking for me."

Still, she kept walking through the isles, just watching him casually browse through the fruit section when she felt a heavy force knock her back.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry," she looked up to see her best friend's girlfriend. "Oh, Hinata!"

"Good morning, Sakura-san," she bent down to help her friend gather the items she had dropped from the collision. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay, I was, uh…" she stood up again and scanned the room. She found him lazily inspecting the fruit and she swallowed hard, "um...distracted."

Hinata followed her gaze and smiled. "Go talk to him."

"W-well," Sakura stuttered, mentally scolding herself for acting like such a love-sick school girl.

She almost sounded like Hinata a few years ago. How the tables have turned. She never thought she would ever be reminded of how she used to act around him. It made her cringe. Sakura had grown up quite a bit. More than she would like to admit sometimes (Naruto said she was just being humble; she said she still had some work to do), and fawning over boys was something twelve year old Sakura was all about.

She smiled though, when she watched him reach up and run a hand through his hair. Aside from feeling the fluttering in her stomach, she also felt very at peace merely at the sight of him. There was just something so gentle and domestic about seeing him in this light.

She bit her lip and studied him carefully, making sure he didn't see her. "I don't know about that."

At first, Sakura did consider going to talk to him, but when he began to turn towards her, time slowed down instantly.

Uchiha Sasuke had always been breathtakingly handsome. But now, with that jawline, the slight smile that decorated it, and the dreamy mystery he still held in his eyes, he was more good looking than she remembered. He was taller, and even though he was dressed conservatively, she could still tell how athletic and powerful he was under all that clothing.

She blushed at the thought. He has really grown up.

He's a man now.

She sees it in the way he carries himself. Just from the way he looked so comfortable was obvious that he was more at peace with himself and back with another purpose: to settle down. And she suddenly wasn't sure if she was quite ready to face him. Sure, this is what she has wanted since she was an adolescent, but the moment it actually presented itself in front of her, it felt way too real and became scary more than anything.

He was completely facing her now, and his gaze shot upwards to inspect his surroundings again. His countenance was decorated with slight interest, as if he really was looking for someone. Sakura's stomach turned upside down and she suddenly felt compelled to approach him. Something about him just felt so inviting.

She tilted her head ever so slightly as she began to imagine what would (should, in her mind) happen if she did move towards him.

" _Sasuke-kun," she called out, and he froze as soon as their eyes met._

 _He met her in the middle and before she knew it she was in his arms. "Hi." She said shyly, their faces inches apart._

 _He wasted no time with introductions and dipped his head to meet her lips. Sakura had always wondered what his lips felt like, but she never imagined they would be this soft and warm against hers. And, heavens, he smelled absolutely wonderful._

 _She let her eyes flutter closed and leaned into him, prompting him to pull her closer. She smiled against him and wrapped her arms around his neck. It felt like everything she had ever imagined, and then she felt his hand start moving towards her-_

"Sakura-san," Hinata giggled, dragging her friend out of her fantasy.

"Shit," Sakura darted behind Hinata as soon as she was almost in Sasuke's peripherals. Panic overcame her senses.

She didn't want to know right now how it would go down if they actually made eye contact - especially not after what just played out in her head. Her ears were very warm and the air suddenly felt hot. Hinata's expression morphed into concern at the sight of a randomly flustered Sakura.

"Are you-"

She gave Hinata a quick hug and bolted in the other direction, "I gotta go, tell Naruto I said hi!"


	3. Chapter 02

**A/N:** Hey guys, don't be afraid to leave me some feedback. Good and bad! I'm always looking for ways to be a better writer.

* * *

 **Chapter 02**

"So," Tsunade drawled.

Before her stood Sakura, looking quite apprehensive with how unsure the fifth Hokage was regarding her request. "You're telling me to send you instead?"

"Yes," Sakura confirmed, as if there wasn't anything to it.

Tsunade sighed and pushed a few open books away from her to make room for a folder titled _A Rank_. She pulled out a paper that held details of the medical exchange program Sakura was looking for.

"It still might be a little early for you to take on this mission," The former Hokage was scribbling something on the paper. "The issues regarding the controversy of the treatment we have been working on are still being discussed in the other villages, before they even implement something so risky. Sending you prematurely might send the wrong message."

Sakura frowned, "Why?"

"They might think we're pressuring them to start moving forward in medical advancements, just because we're progressing." She sighed. "It may seem a little suspicious to be this forward."

"Hmm," Sakura seemed to agree. "So they might think we have ulterior motives?"

"Exactly."

She sighed. After all, even if she was technically running away, she wouldn't dream of jeopardizing her work and the village's prosperity just so she can have her way.

"Is there any other work I can do outside of Konoha? I heard Suna was in need of an extra hand since they're expanding their medical programs."

Tsunade returned the folder and exchanged it for one titled _B Rank_. "If I send you, we might be short staffed."

"But, I just trained a group of thirty new medics this last month-"

"What is this really about, Sakura?" Tsunade closed the folder abruptly to give her pupil her undivided attention.

She rested her elbows on the table and the intensity of her stare was enough to make Sakura cringe. It was inevitable, she supposed, that Tsunade saw right through her. She wasn't dumb. She shifted nervously, even if her mentor was looking at her with genuine concern. There was no trace of anger, but Sakura didn't like being on the spot.

"What do you mean?" she asked instead, unsure of how to go about confessing what was truly on her mind.

"I mean," Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. She really didn't have time for this, "why do you suddenly need to leave the village. And why are you not being direct with me, Sakura?"

"I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama." she bowed her head in defeat. She really shouldn't be pushing it if she wanted help. "I…I would rather not- I mean…It's kind of embarrassing."

"Is it about Sasuke, my dear?"

Sakura froze. Again, she wasn't sure why she was so surprised that her mentor was reading into her so easily. She nodded meekly, feeling her cheeks warm up.

"Haruno Sakura," Tsunade seemed to relax a lot at her newfound discovery. She sat back in her seat and wore an unsettlingly smug smirk on her face. Sakura braced herself for the worst. "Your beloved Sasuke comes back and the first thing you think to do is run away with your tail between your legs?"

"Shishou," Sakura snapped quietly, feeling the blood rush to her ears. "I'm not running away."

"I thought I raised you better than this."

"Well I..." Sakura stuttered. There was no way out of this one. "I don't even know, Tsunade-sama. I'm going crazy."

"Well, at least you admit it." the older woman laughed heartily. "I understand. I was your age once too, you know. What happened between you two anyway? I thought he left on good terms with you."

Sakura's brows met in the middle as she tried to remember exactly how things went down a couple years ago.

"Before he left three years ago, I suppose there was something." She was blushing again, suddenly finding the new floorboards more interesting. "But we were just so busy, and I guess we both knew that it wasn't the right time to get involved."

"He stopped writing to me about six months into his travels," she continued, "At first I thought he had found someone else, or didn't want anything to do with me anymore, now that he had seen life beyond being contained here in Konoha...but then I got a 'we'll talk later' and found out he stopped writing to Naruto too. I haven't heard from him in two and a half years and all of a sudden, he's back? I wasn't ready for this at all."

"That doesn't add up. You've been waiting for him for seven years."

"But I never imagined that the moment he actually came back, I would be completely caught off guard."

"Hm," Tsunade took a moment to digest everything. "The boy really is full of surprises, huh?"

"So...please, shishou," Sakura already looked ashamed as it was, Tsunade observed.

"Yeah, alright."

"Really?" her face lit up immensely.

"Sure. You seem way too stressed to accomplish anything here anyway. I'll send you to Suna for a couple weeks: train another group of medical nin. I'll be expecting a fresh group of at least twenty capable medics by the time you come back." She watched as her pupil eagerly regained composure.

"Thank you so much, Tsunade-sama."

"I suppose I trust that you've thought this through." Tsunade signed the document and filed it again in the folder.

"But please, Sakura. You're about to be 21 in the spring. And for someone I trained in my image, I expected a little more than hiding from your boyfriend just because you haven't seen him in a few years."

"He's not my boyfriend," she argued quietly. Tsunade just seemed to feed off of her embarrassment tonight.

"Keep me updated, Sakura. I'll be expecting you in three weeks at most. Remember, this is _work_ , not vacation."

* * *

"Are you for real? You're running away?"

"Ne, why does everyone say the same thing?" Sakura hung her head.

She had on her backpack and was halfway to the gates of Konoha when she ran into Naruto. She seemed to be in such a hurry, and it looked like she had packed for more than just a few days of travel. So naturally, Naruto had to ask.

"Because you _are_ running away." Naruto's face fell, "Anyway, this looks all too familiar."

Sakura smiled sheepishly, also remembering the first time she tried to run away, only to be stopped by him. "Oh, shush."

"Wait, I don't get it. Haven't you been waiting for him to come back this whole time?"

"Yeah," Sakura groaned. "But ugh,"

"But ugh." Naruto repeated, crossing his arms.

"I just…I'm not ready. I-I saw him in the market the other day and…" Naruto saw how flustered she was getting and grinned mischievously.

"You look like my girlfriend with all that stuttering and blushing you're doing, 'ttebayo."

Sakura threw her chin back up and wore a cute frown. Naruto laughed. "I got scared, okay? When he left again, three years ago, I put all my focus on my work to distract myself. It worked so well that I forgot to consider what I would do when he did come back."

"Why?"

"Well, answer me this then, since you two seem to be connected telepathically or whatever it is," Sakura poked at his shoulder playfully. "Why do you think Sasuke is back?"

"Because he's tired of travelling and being alone and wants to come home?"

"Right, so that means…?"

Naruto looked at her, puzzled. She was a piece of work. "...that...he wants to come home to Konoha?"

Sakura sighed, "Sasuke wouldn't come back just to leave, _again_. Not at this point with that much on the line regarding his reputation. He's back for good and you know it. I can tell in the way he carried himself the other day. He looked so sure of himself, something I had never really seen before in that sense."

Naruto watched her carefully. She seemed very sure about this. "He's ready for something else; something I haven't thought about in years."

"You're crazy." Naruto wrinkled his nose, attempting to digest everything she said in the amount of time she expected.

"Well it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing with Sasuke."

"Yeah, fair enough," the blond resigned. "Man, you're a handful."

"That's why you have two hands." Sakura laughed. "You have a girlfriend; don't you know how it is?"

Naruto snickered, "My girlfriend actually makes my life easier!"

"Oh, whatever!" her eyes narrowed. "And you wanted to date _me_."

"That's before I found out you're crazy."

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully before he continued, "So now, I suppose that if Sasuke asks _me_ , because I am just all-knowing and he knows it, that I'm supposed to tell him you left for a mission for an indefinite amount of time."

It was half sarcastic but Sakura didn't seem to get it. She sighed, "Doubt he'd ask. But yes, please and thank you."

Naruto waved his hand dismissively, accepting his role in the middle of this mess. Something told him this wasn't the end of it either. He would be getting caught in an even bigger mess in the near future.

Sakura was about to turn around and head out when she remembered, "Oh, and why the hell didn't you tell me he was back!"

"EHH?! Why is this suddenly my fault!?"

* * *

Sasuke took a walk late that night. He spent most of his day running errands such as apartment hunting, meeting people, and getting acquainted with his surroundings. He was all around the village today. And really, he told himself, if he ran into Sakura, that would just be bonus points.

But who was he kidding?

He was exhausted at this point, since apartment hunting turned out to be a monumental waste of time. His only option at the moment would be to room with someone for a while until they allow him to have a place of his own.

Then he ran into Naruto.

"What are you doing lurking around? It's one in the morning."

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm going to Hinata's." Naruto answered easily.

"This late…?"

"Yeah. I think her dad still doesn't like me, so it's hard to see her sometimes." He put his hands behind his head, "I mean sure, he knows I'm a hero and all, but in the end, I'm still a boy after her daughter and he's still her dad."

"So sneaking into her room at one in the morning is supposed to convince him you're innocent?"

"No. He has no idea." Naruto shrugged.

"He's crazy to not trust you." Sasuke's tone was dripping with sarcasm.

"That's what I'm saying," Naruto yawned.

Sasuke frowned, "You're tired."

"Yeah, but she's more important than sleep." He smiled. It was interesting how he seemed to regain energy just by thinking about her, Sasuke mused...perhaps he could relate.

"Which reminds me, I was wondering-"

"If you can crash at my place until you can find a decent apartment." his best friend finished for him. He looked so smug, Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"I was going to say if you knew anyone I can crash with until I found a decent apartment."

"Teme…."

"But I guess I'll just have to settle for you."

Naruto rolled his eyes so far back he swore he saw the inside of his head. "What happened to apartment hunting?"

Sasuke looked away, annoyed. "Apartments only rent out to people who have been residents in the village for a certain amount of time, and I just got back."

"Huh, that's lame."

"Hn."

"I suppose you can stay with me. I mean I guess I'm barely home anyway. It's just such a small space." Naruto thought out loud. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Then he changed the subject again.

"Have you seen Sakura?"

"What? Why?"

Sasuke frowned. "I just want to know…and you're the only one I can ask. I tried to go see if she was at the hospital today but they said I can only see her if I'm a patient."

"Ah. Well I think she left for a mission this morning."

Sasuke wonders why she didn't come looking for him when he got back. Naruto noticed his perplexed expression, "I don't think she knows you're back."

He seemed to relax a little, "When do you think she'll be back?"

"Geez, aren't you a chatterbox today?" Naruto laughed apprehensively.

"Why are you like this?"

Naruto laughed, "Sorry, sorry. It's just funny how you think you're being subtle."

Sasuke was about to argue when he got interrupted instead, "I don't know when she'll be back, Sasuke. I think her mission will be a long one. There's still so much going on around the village, you know? She's such a big part of it too."

"I know."

Naruto yawned lazily again. "Look, I'd love to stay and chat, but I haven't seen Hinata all week. I guess I'll see you back at my place."

He raised his hand in confirmation, "Alright."

* * *

"You're kidding," Hinata giggled cutely. She laid comfortably on his chest while he looked up at her. Her voice was barely above a whisper, since they were trying not to let anyone hear that she had company over this late.

"No I swear," Naruto reached up to tuck some stray hair behind her ear. "And it's funny, I can feel all the sexual tension even if they haven't even seen each other yet."

"Yeah, actually I ran into Sakura-san earlier this week." She told him, reaching forward to play with his collar. "She saw Sasuke-san at the market and she completely froze."

"Then what?"

"That's it," she chuckled. "Well, he almost saw her. But then she left before he did."

"Sounds familiar, no?" he chuckled.

"Whatever," she smiled, pulling his headband down to cover his eyes. He laughed. She watched him take the headband off and find her eyes again. Her gaze softened. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

Naruto pouted. As much as he wanted to, and as much as her asking of this made him want to even more, he knew he couldn't. It was way too risky.

"Hinataaa," he whined, turning his head to the side in a pretend fit. "You know I can't."

She seemed to understand and leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek. He was about to catch her lips when she yawned.

"You should get some rest."

Hinata nodded slowly, sliding off of him to the side. She murmured a soft "love you," before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

To say Sakura was upset was a bit of an understatement.

To be completely honest, she wasn't sure why she ran away in the first place. She knew it was very unlike her to just up and run away from her problems. But no matter how trained she was under the fight or flight response, this time her choice was flight.

It frustrated her beyond belief. The last thing she wanted was to feel like she regressed by not being able to handle difficult situations like this. But still, this situation was no mere danger a ninja would be put up against. It was an emotional problem, and her feelings and her future were on the line.

She was confused too. What exactly would happen when they meet again? Would they just pick up from where they left off? And what would he say if he knew that she ran away like that?

She was scared, above all things.

So much time had passed, when she thought about it. They were both completely different people after everything they've been through. Especially since he had been on this magnificent expedition to figure himself out.

It wasn't very likely, but what if he was looking for her so that he could give her closure to move on?

The idea made her nearly slip on a branch.

In the three years that he was gone, Sakura was very content with her distractions; namely work and hanging out with friends. For a little while Ino had even convinced her that maybe she needed a palate cleanser, but she refused to get involved with anyone past a second date or first kiss. It felt wrong, since she would only think of Sasuke.

It was completely unfair to anyone who genuinely wanted a relationship with her.

On top of that, the rest of her team never seemed to approve of anyone else. The men around the village who courted her were very kind, and a lot of them were good looking too. Sakura's mom even had a few favorites.

But Naruto and Sai were pickier. They would always find something irritatingly wrong about the poor fellow, and if that wasn't enough to scare them away, Sakura just wasn't interested.

There was no point in dwelling on any of this. She had asked to leave so that she can have time to recuperate and recollect herself before she had to deal with the problem back home. Getting upset about things was rather counterintuitive.

Sakura took a deep breath and tried to relax.


	4. Chapter 03

**A/N:** I've been itching to write easy oneshots again haha...but I have to commit, there's no turning back now!

* * *

 **CHAPTER 03**

A week and a half into her mission, Sakura began feeling a little anxious again.

At first, the assignment occupied most of her time, so was able to stay distracted. Although the job itself was admittedly a little stressful, Sakura took pride in contributing to the Sand Village's medical program.

Nevertheless, she began to think about what she would have to deal with, once the hectic atmosphere died down a little. A week and a half was definitely enough to give her time to regain composure and be cool when she did have to face him. And now she was getting pretty antsy, like she just wanted to get it over with.

It was almost lunch break, but the nurses insisted she just go relax for a little bit. Sakura sat down at her desk.

She thought back to the two weeks they were together before he left.

Even if they didn't hang out much because she was so busy, his attitude towards her was very gentle, something she wasn't used to. He was still Sasuke - still quiet and reserved. He seemed to pick up a sarcastic, yet warm sense of humor that he used affectionately.

He was very compassionate with her, but it was clear where he set boundaries. She wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to get in her bubble, or he wanted to keep her out of his.

But at the same time, he seemed more mature, despite the fact that he still had a lot of soul-searching to do before he left. It made her wonder what a relationship with him would be like. It wouldn't at all be what she imagined when they were twelve: when he was very cold and edgy.

It made her heart swell with happiness to think that Sasuke was able to understand love now- or at least, a little more than before. Because that meant _maybe_ when he got back, he would want to be with her.

Just the thought of him being so sweet and loving to her put her heart at ease.

Now, Tsunade had made it clear that she was to return after three weeks. In half of that time she was able to kick start a program to train the new medical students in the hospital, so technically she was free to return home. She even got a letter reminding her of her due date.

Perhaps, she thought, she should at least prepare what she would say after seeing him again, so she wouldn't end up babbling and making a fool of herself. The last thing she wanted was for this new, cool-headed Sasuke to approach her, making her flustered and embarrassing just like old times.

She had already almost made a fool out of herself a couple weeks ago.

Sakura then remembered how awful she was at the tender age of twelve, and the thought made her accidentally knock over a pile of papers. With a sigh, she picked up her files and stood up as dignified as she could.

"Hi Sasuke-kun," she repeated three times, correcting her tone each time for either being too enthusiastic, not enthusiastic enough, or just plain awkward.

"Welcome home. I hope your travels went well. I know it might be a little weird at first, but I'm really glad you're back and-"

There was a soft knock on the open door that made her jump in surprise.

"Ah! Kazekage-sama!" her face was red and she knew it. She cleared her throat and gave him a big smile.

"Doctor Haruno," he nodded.

"Just Sakura," she corrected, smiling cordially.

"Then I'm just Gaara," he smiled back. "Did I interrupt something?" If possible, Sakura felt her ears heat up even more.

"No, no," she straightened up and walked toward him. "I was just about to take lunch."

"That's good. I actually came here to ask you to join me."

* * *

Sasuke stepped into the Hokage's office, admittedly a little annoyed. He had been stuck with low rank missions for the last week. Not only did it remind him of his genin days, but it felt like he was wasting all this talent that could be used for more difficult missions.

Then again, even if he was able to go out on a higher ranked mission, there wasn't really anything to do in these times of peace. The only thing that might be an international issue was what was mentioned in the letters he had been receiving from his old team, Taka, about a suspicious drug going around that people might be using as a weapon.

He usually just read over said letters, since they seemed to be merely informative and not really expecting a response. Of course, that doesn't include Karin's shameless flirting and requests to write her back.

Regardless, he was stuck doing local missions that he honestly just passed off as errands. It was exasperating.

"Ah, good, you're here." Kakashi looked up from the stack of papers mocking him on his desk.

"If this is another house painting mission, I may just lose my shit."

Kakashi laughed. "Is this not what you expected after coming back though?"

"Low-rank missions?"

"You're a genin."

Sasuke grunted in defeat and Kakashi had to try his best not to laugh.

"You can be as badass as you want, but you're still a genin until you test. And until then you're stuck with baby missions."

"Fine."

"Good, you know your place," Kakashi teased. "Anyway, I have something special for you then. I need you to go pick up Sakura in Sunagakure. She's been on a mission, but I need her back."

Sasuke's eyes brightened for a second and Kakashi wanted to laugh. This was the first he had heard about her in a couple weeks. How cute, the older man mused. He wondered how much farther he can milk this. This new Sasuke was fun.

All of a sudden Sasuke remembered he actually still hasn't seen her since the last time he left Konoha. He could have easily sent Naruto, or someone she would be comfortable with traveling with. It would be awkward between them, and Kakashi probably knew that.

"What are you playing at?"

"What are you talking about?"

Sasuke made a face that resembled momentary confusion, slight frustration, and a little bit of excitement. Kakashi read right through him, but decided to humor the young man instead.

"You said you wanted to take a more difficult mission than local errands, so I thought, why not this one?"

"An escort mission,"

"It's the most interesting D rank mission I have."

"That was specifically for me?"

Kakashi chuckled, almost a little maniacally if Sasuke could say. "Sakura is a handful." He warned, his voice lowered, a glint in his eyes made Sasuke a little uneasy.

"Hn," he closed his eyes in silent agreement and Kakashi's face lit up again. He figured it was best not to ask.

"Great. You leave in three days."

* * *

Sakura was quite flattered.

Gaara had taken her to a nice restaurant for lunch. At first, she was being modest and suggested that they just go to some small local ramen shack, which was what she was used to anyway. But the Kazekage had insisted that she try their unagi here.

When she told him that she wasn't dressed properly, he simply responded, "if you're afraid you look like you can't afford this place, people know you're a doctor. You don't even have to worry about it, it's on me today."

She blushed so hard she couldn't respond.

"You seem stressed," he stated as he watched her fold a napkin over her lap. "What's on your mind?"

She looked up at him, surprised. People typically don't just ask her what was wrong.

Gaara quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to butt in, I know it isn't my business-"

"Oh, no! That's not it," Sakura corrected once she caught onto what was happening. "I suppose I am a bit on edge lately, but I don't want to spoil this lunch by being so negative."

The man across from her seemed to smile and relax at her opening up, "you won't spoil it, don't worry. I asked."

Now normally, Sakura, being herself, would go on about what was on her mind. But she noticed from the way Gaara had been looking at her this whole time, that it would be rather insensitive for her to ramble about what was actually on her mind.

So instead she simply explained, as objectively as she could, that she was just apprehensive and surprised to see Sasuke back.

"I see," he seemed to be thinking, and she was scared for a moment that she had broken his heart. But then he looked up at her and gave her a hopeful smile. "I remember how it felt to be lost just like him. It's been a journey you know. And I'm glad we had Naruto to help us out. I don't know where Sasuke and I would be without him right now."

"You're right," Sakura agreed, smiling in agreement.

"I wouldn't worry too much if I were you," Gaara reassured her easily. "He's on the right track. He has great friends like you and Naruto."

Sakura felt the nagging feeling of doubt leave her for the rest of her lunch break.

* * *

"Hatake!"

Kakashi winced as the doors to his office burst open to reveal an angry sannin. He knew what this was about, and he knew he would eventually face her wrath, but it was nine in the morning for Kami's sake.

"How can I help you?" He offered graciously. Tsunade looked at him menacingly. She took a deep breath before feigning calm concern.

"Yes, I seem to be missing something important, and I was wondering if you might know the whereabouts of such."

"Hmm, yes," Kakashi put his hands together in front of his face. "Could you describe this missing thing?"

Her eye twitched. "Why are you meddling?"

"I don't think we're on the same page anymore."

When she stood up again to full height and her aura suddenly turned more malicious, Kakashi chuckled and calmed her down.

"Weren't you the one who said you wanted Sakura home in a few days?"

"So you send the one person she's avoiding to go fetch her."

"Why is this so important to you?"

"She's like my daughter. I watched her hurt for so long, and now that things might be on the right track I was really rooting for her."

"Well, then by that logic, they're both practically my kids," Kakashi countered, and Tsunade suddenly had nothing to say. "You don't think I want what's best for them too?"

"Yes, but-"

"Sasuke has missed out a lot on things you're supposed to learn growing up. Even Naruto has better experience with those things than he does. He needs a push. They both do."

The fifth looked down for a moment before deciding perhaps that might actually be the case. Maybe she raised Sakura for a little bit, but in the end Kakashi should know his team the best. She sighed in resignation.

"I suppose you're right," then she headed for the door. "But if she's pissed, you know she's twice as scary as me."

* * *

During her last week in Suna, Gaara had taken her out to lunch every day. It made her afternoons less lonely and she definitely was flattered that someone of such importance would take the time and effort to entertain her.

But by the last day, his attitude seemed a little different. He was less forward and quieter than he had been this week.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked casually.

He studied her for a moment and saw how relaxed she looked, but also quite apprehensive.

"This isn't going to happen, is it?" he hesitated for a moment, "us?"

Sakura was shocked. She watched as he tried to smile for her and it made her stomach sink into the depths of her own pain.

"Gaara…"

"No, Sakura, it's fine." He dismissed her worries. "I took you out to lunch this week as a thank you, for everything you've been doing for us."

"I'm sorry,"

"Sakura-"

"You are a wonderful person, Gaara. You're very good looking, intelligent, and when you open up, you're pretty funny," she smiled. He thanked her and let her continue. "I'm sorry I'm so messed up. I guess I'm just un-datable."

He chuckled. She was cute when she was pouting. "That's not true."

"Hmph," she scoffed, urging him to humor her.

"It's not that. You're a catch." He smirked when she had to look down to hide her face turning red again. "This didn't work out, and that's fine. But I'm willing to bet it's for the same reason none of your other attempted dates got past the third."

"And why is that?"

"You are still in love with Sasuke."

Sakura looked at him as seriously as she could. "That's...that's not-"

"It's the same reason Naruto gave up on you too. He saw how you can't look at anyone or talk about anyone the same way, and then he found someone else who could love him unconditionally the same way you feel for Sasuke."

"Naruto is happy with Hinata," was all she could say.

"I know, he writes to me often. That's not what I was getting at." The Kazekage continued. "You're still waiting for him."

Sakura was quiet.

"So why did you run away?"

She laughed. There was no keeping secrets from him. He was smart; he saw right through her.

"I was just being a baby."

"Hm," he chuckled.

"To say I was surprised upon seeing him again is an understatement. Caught me completely off guard." She explained, feeling like a mess. "I left before I could make an ass out of myself…again."

"What are you going to do when you see him then?"

He listened as Sakura tried to come up with something, to no avail. It was quite entertaining actually. He studied her nervousness and wondered how she would then deal with him coming to get her this afternoon.

The Hokage had sent a message to him this morning. She had no idea.

* * *

So when she actually does see him, it was completely by surprise, again.

Sasuke waited patiently in the lobby for her to come out, but when one of the nurses said she would be a while, he asked if there's any way he could just go in there and wait for her inside.

The nurse told him to wait while she went to go see if Sakura was busy, leaving the young man alone with his thoughts. Even if he was cool and collected, he was undoubtedly nervous about seeing her again for the first time in a long time. There was no telling how she would act around him, seeing as they haven't actually been on the best terms.

He wondered if she'd be mad that he stopped writing. Or if she would just be completely ecstatic and run into his arms, crying. Either scenario, Sasuke was prepared.

Or so he thought.

"You can come in, Sasuke-san."

"Hn," he nodded. "Thank you."


	5. Chapter 04

**A/N:** Happy New Year, my little duckies. Thank you so much for all the support; it really means a lot to me, you guys have no idea! I love you all! To my anons: don't worry, "fan girl" Sakura drives me nuts too. And yes, I am an army /swoon/

My updates should be pretty frequent since I'm on break, but I don't know how it'll be once school starts again lol.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 04**

Every step towards her made his heart pick up its pace.

Although he wasn't going to admit it to anyone (even himself), Sasuke was eager to see her again. He had seen a lot of pretty girls during his travels, and quite a few who were willing to give him a good time. But should he compare them to what was waiting for them back home, they seemed insignificant.

An image of her rosy cheeks and graceful smile crossed his mind, and his heart only longed to see her even more.

When he found her, his heart dropped down to his stomach. She wasn't facing him, but she still looked beautiful, even from the back. Her hair was cut short again, and she had grown a few centimeters taller. Her clothes were different, but they still had Sakura written all over them. And it was quite a sight for Sasuke, as she filled them in very nicely.

He took a step forward and saw her tense up.

"Sakura," She froze in the middle of picking up papers.

It couldn't be. If she was not mistaken, behind her right now stood the Uchiha Sasuke.

Now, Sakura told herself that she was ready. She even had that welcome back speech memorized. The young woman was so set on not letting their reunion be as awkward as it could have been a couple weeks ago. She was _so_ set on not letting herself regress, yet again, simply because she found herself in his presence.

Except…she intended to come home and find him, not be graced with a surprise visit in the middle of her work one day. She turned around and blinked, to make sure her mind wasn't just playing stupid tricks on her again.

He was looking right at her.

Sakura knew she should have said something, but first she had to make sure she was breathing. It felt like somebody had latched onto her lungs and refused to let go. She wanted to look away, she really did. But she couldn't bring herself to break eye contact.

Eventually, her breathing returned to normal and the rest of her internal organs returned to their proper positions. Sasuke looked at her, admittedly a little confused as to why she hasn't said anything yet. But his drive to reconnect with her pushed him to come closer, despite not getting any go signals to do so.

When the distance between them was no more than a foot, Sakura held her breath. He was looking down at her with such intensity that rivaled their eye contact back in the midst of the war. But he held a very soft gaze that simply melted her heart.

It was worse than when she saw him at the market, because now it was up close. His scent was so alluring, just like she had imagined.

" _No!"_ she screamed internally. _"Don't think about that now!"_

In all honesty, Sakura was very tempted to just jump into his arms and start crying. She really did miss him, and it seemed like that's what he was expecting at the moment. But she would rather be eaten by Orochimaru's snake, Manda, than embarrass herself with some pathetic display of the waterworks.

But Sakura was 21, still a little heartbroken, and the last time she saw the love of her life was three years ago.

So, instead, she panicked and asked, "Who are you?"

His face remained aloof, but Sakura didn't miss the hint of surprise. At this point, all she wanted to do was sink into the floor and disappear forever. Where the hell did that even come from! But she was already on the spot, and there was no turning back now.

"Oh, where are my manners…My name is Sakura, but I guess you already knew that."

He just stared at her, making her squirm a little apprehensively. The longer his look lingered, the more she considered just bolting in the other direction.

"I'm sorry, I have amnesia." She added quickly, watching as he seemed to process this whole mess. "Maybe I should have started with that. Do I know you?"

Every time she opened her mouth, Sakura wished she would just keep it shut.

Now, Sasuke told himself he was prepared for anything she threw at him, granted it was either a tearful affair or blind rage. He did not, however, expect her to just completely forget who he is.

There was something in her eyes that he couldn't quite decipher, but she looked so painfully innocent and peaceful now that, apparently, she has no recollection of who he is or their past together. Sasuke took a deep breath and decided, perhaps, it wasn't the best idea to drop the bomb on her right now.

That, and he also found himself in a state of panic, so he quickly answered, "No."

She looked at him blankly, and for a moment he couldn't read her at all. "Well then," she put on another smile. "How can I help you?"

"Uh," he took a step back, his heart was racing. These feelings weren't something he was used to dealing with. And on top of that, he was convinced that he had just made the awkward situation worse by blatantly lying to her.

"I'm here from Konoha," he pulled out his old headband, but instantly groaned at the thought of how stupid that might have been. She eyed the scratch across the leaf village symbol, and had to refrain from laughing.

Sasuke quickly retracted the forehead protector and cleared his throat. "I came to pick you up."

"Oh, thank you, but I don't need an escort." She tried to walk past him politely.

He stopped her swiftly, "Sakura."

She froze and looked at the hand that caught her wrist. His touch was demanding yet soft. She briefly wondered what it would feel like around other parts of her body…

Her face scrunched up at the timing of her dirty thoughts, and he might have registered that as her discomfort at his touch. He remains surprisingly calm and tells her, "Hokage's orders."

She looks at him for a second, honestly slightly annoyed, before she nods in compliance. "Alright."

* * *

It wasn't often that Sasuke and Naruto got to hang out, seeing as the latter was busy with so many tasks around the city. Sure, Sasuke was also busy with his contributions, but painting houses was different from planning new buildings and dealing with foreign affairs.

So, when they did get time for each other, it was nice.

Sometimes they talked about important matters; other times they just discussed random, trivial topics. They enjoyed each other's company.

"Question," Sasuke looked over at his best friend. Mouth full, Naruto grunts in response. "Why aren't you worried about all of those gross men trying to win her hand in marriage?"

True enough, Naruto displayed minimal territorial behavior regarding his girlfriend, and it piqued Sasuke's interest. Of course, it was one of those things Sasuke didn't have experience in, but he would assume that the fox spirit inside of him would at least exhibit some posessive attitude.

Naruto smirked easily, then answered, "They don't stand a chance. There's no need for me to fight back."

"But isn't her father looking for a suitable man?"

Naruto shrugged passively, "He'll see it's me."

"And how is that?"

"I love her."

Naruto took pride in believing it was as simple as that. Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed a little perplexed. It was just never a concept he understood completely. Granted, it took Naruto quite a while to understand as well.

Sure, while Sasuke was away, he thought a lot about his former teammate. But he couldn't quite understand why he could not quite explain what he felt. Being a very skilled shinobi taught him irreplaceable analytical skills, meaning he was able to think very logically: inside a logical box. It was where his comfort zone lay. And just outside of this box was the abstract concept of feelings.

It drove him mad.

Why did his mind always wander towards her, especially nearing the end of his journey? Why did he just want to make her happy? Why did the thought of her settling down with another man trigger a sharp pang in his heart? Why didn't he have the answer to any of these questions?

And what especially confused him was: why did she stick around this whole time?

"How are you so sure she loves you that much?" He asked next.

Naruto thought for a moment, but then shot his best friend a bewildered look. "That's a weird question."

"Just answer it."

"I guess…" Naruto bit his lip in thought. "It's not really something you know, but something you feel. It's one thing to have a thing for someone, but you're in a whole new world of feelings and unexplainable things when they love you back. It's hard to explain."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, in an attempt to understand this shitty explanation.

"Don't feel bad. I never paid attention to these things until she came along anyway."

"Not even with Sakura?"

"Nah, I just thought she was pretty…and, I guess, the more I couldn't have her, the more I wanted her."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He wondered if twelve-year-old Naruto would have agreed. It seemed to go against everything he knew about his best friend. "Seriously?"

"More or less, yeah," Naruto waived a hand dismissively. "I really do love Sakura-chan, don't get me wrong. But like a sister, you know?"

"And now you're sure you're _in love_ with the Hyuuga?"

"I feel like the luckiest man alive for her to love me the way she does," he explained proudly. "Even if it means giving up being the heiress to her clan."

Sasuke looked at him questioningly.

"Oh yeah," he grunted. "That's the other part. If she doesn't marry someone of her father's choosing, she has to give up her rights to be the next successor to the clan leader."

Sasuke frowned. "What makes those guys any different?"

"They're all suitable heirs to the clan because they're from prestigious clans…or something. I don't know, I can't remember."

Sasuke's eye twitched at the last part. Suddenly, his issues came crashing down on him again. It seemed like a good opening to bring up what was on his mind.

"Speaking of which…"

"Huh?"

"Did you know Sakura has amnesia?"

When his question was initially met with silence, Sasuke's unease increased exponentially. He was already very confused as it was.

Naruto was quiet. He was completely taken aback by this question. If he was going to get more questions from Sasuke tonight (the idea was already weird enough), he expected stuff he actually had an answer to. Not this!

But then, he thought, maybe this explained why he hasn't seen much of Sakura around lately, ever since Sasuke came back. When realization dawned on him that Sakura ultimately created this mess, he became annoyed. Though he figured, he shouldn't rat her out in case she was up to something.

After all, he wouldn't want another face full of Sakura's fist; he had the Hyuuga clan to win over.

"You didn't know?" Sasuke grew suspicious.

"No, yeah, I knew," he answered awkwardly, feeling a small pang of guilt for lying to his clueless best friend. "I just didn't think she wouldn't remember you."

"Well, apparently, you never told her about me." Sasuke seemed a little irritated at the apparent lack of cooperation from the other party.

"This isn't my fault," Naruto's face fell, and suddenly he wasn't as guilty. He heard Sasuke mutter something like an apology before he changed the subject instead, "so, when do you plan on testing for Chuunin?"

"What? Why?"

"It's not like you at all to just let me be better than you."

He sighed a breath of relief when he saw a smirk forming on Sasuke's lips. But inside, he was angry. Sakura was going to get it when he sees her.

* * *

"Are you fucking kidding me."

It wasn't a question. Sakura shrunk, looking like a little girl who took a cookie without asking. "Can you not use that tone with me?"

"What did you expect! That I handle this calmly and with great delicacy?" Naruto was very close to her face, and all she could do was frown. "You two are my best friends in the entire world, and now I have to hear about how you're both being stupid. And I _know_ how stubborn you both are!"

"It's fine," she stepped away from him.

Sakura knew it was only a matter of time before this mess reached Naruto, and she very well knew he was going to raise hell once he found out. Perhaps, she thought, she did deserve his wrath.

"This is going to backfire and blow up in your face."

"Umm, not if it blows up in his face first," she said sarcastically, hoping he would just drop the subject, no matter how unlikely that seemed at this point. "In case you haven't noticed, he's lying to me too."

Naruto looked like he wanted to release Kurama.

Sakura was a very intelligent and mature young woman, that was a given that everybody knew. But right now, she was being completely immature and unreasonable. And he was actually offering his genuine opinion on the matter because he cared.

Instead of responding, he took a deep breath and turned around to leave. Sakura groaned and stopped him ungracefully.

"Okay, that was a stupid thing to say," she looked away. "Look, I know I messed up; I dug a hole and climbed right in. I don't intend to lie to him forever, Naruto. I just need to get my shit together, then I'll fix this."

Naruto just looked at her, completely disappointed.

"How are you even keeping up with this lie?" he asked, watching her fidget in discomfort. It seemed as though she hadn't exactly thought this through. "You don't think someone is going to blow your cover on accident? You don't think Sasuke will see right through you?"

"Please," she scoffed. "I think I'm smarter than you give me credit for."

"That is true. But I also think Sasuke is smarter than you give _him_ credit for."

"But he doesn't know me as well as either of you think anymore," she felt a sudden boost of confidence when Naruto had no argument against that. "and as for people messing this up, I doubt it. It's not like he talks to anyone."

"Yes, he does. He asked Tsunade-baa-chan about it the other day."

Sakura grimaced. Of course, she should have expected that. "You're not helping."

"You _know_ what to do."

Sakura's suddenly felt her patience jump out the window and she stood up to full height. Her eyes became determined and hurt decorated her voice.

"Yeah, I do, okay?! I know I messed up and I know I shouldn't keep fucking up this chance to finally be with him like I've always wanted. But it's not that easy right now, Naruto! I know I regressed, alright? I see him the other day and my first thought was to run away. Do you think I'm proud of that?"

"Sakura-chan…" she looked so angry, she was about to cry, and Naruto felt guilt tug at his conscience.

"It's ridiculous," she angrily wiped a tear with her palm, and her voice slowly went back to normal. "I don't like it either. And not everyone is as perfect as you and Hinata, so don't forget to consider how the rest of us are doing too."

Naruto was quiet for a moment, so the only thing they could hear was Sakura seething and trying not to cry anymore. He put his head down. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I guess am being a little insensitive."

"Hmph. Thank you."

There was another moment of silence as they both seemed to calm down.

"He likes you, you know."

Sakura blushed.

"Don't mess this up."

She snorted in response.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Sakura just thought about her conversation with Naruto. She seemed to be very distracted when she ran into someone, yet again, at the market.

With an annoyed sigh (did people just really not like looking where they were going when she wasn't?), she bent down to grab the groceries she had dropped, when she made eye contact with the culprit.

"Sakura," he nodded, and his voice gave her shivers. All of her anger suddenly just disappeared.

"Oh, hi," he frowned at her seemingly indifferent attitude towards him, but he didn't miss the way her cheeks seemed to turn pink when his gaze lingered. She tucked some hair behind her ear and broke eye contact. "How are you doing?"

"I'm alright," he answered simply.

"That's good," she smiled, "I think."

"What about you?"

"Oh," she blushed lightly. She wasn't used to this conversationalist Sasuke. "I'm doing well, I suppose. Tired, mostly. Work is pretty draining."

He nodded, unsure of what to say next.

To be honest, Sakura and Sasuke have never been alone since the latter had changed his ways. After the end of the war, every time they were together, Naruto was present as well to ease the awkward atmosphere. The boy just didn't seem to care (or notice) that there was tension between his best friends. So, he remained as loud and animated as ever, serving as the perfect middle ground for the two awkward lovebirds.

And they never realized it until they were alone.

"So, was there something you needed from me?"

Sasuke suddenly remembered that he totally just invaded her grocery shopping time for absolutely no reason. She had been minding her own business, and they could have easily gone separate ways after she gathered her stuff again.

"No," he answered simply.

And before she made a move to make some snide remark (or say something really awkward, knowing her), he continued, "I wanted your company."

Sakura almost dropped her stuff again. Did he really just say that?

"Oh," she grinned, suddenly feeling inclined to push this. "So, you like me?"

She inwardly winced a little. Leave it to Haruno Sakura to make a perfectly good situation awkward. She looked up to see him try to hide his face, and her smile grew tenfold.

If someone told her a few years ago, that _the_ Uchiha Sasuke would be this interested in her, she would have decked them in the face and yelled at them for playing with her feelings like that.

For the rest of the time, Sasuke kept her entertained while she finished up her grocery shopping. They talked about trivial things, as he thought they should probably take it slow in getting to know each other. He would ask minor questions about her character like what her favorite color is, or her favorite restaurant. She would answer and then throw the question back at him.

It filled him with an unexplainable sense of contentment to see her this happy merely from small talk with him. She was adorable, and he wondered how he never saw this before.

Sasuke decided that he loved the sound of her laugh, and that her company was very enjoyable. She seemed to be in a pretty good mood now, so he suddenly got the courage to ask. It was now or never.

"I wanted to ask you something." She froze, then looked at him. He looked so sincere. She nodded, allowing him to continue.

"How did you lose your memory?"


	6. Chapter 05

**A/N** **:** You can reread an earlier version of this story that I didn't finish in my profile. I was reading it this morning and I laughed. It's so bad. Anyway, for everyone starting school again soon, have a great semester!

* * *

 **CHAPTER 05**

Sasuke effortlessly threw a kunai and watched Naruto dodge it with ease.

"What the hell was that!" called the blond. Sasuke was out of breath; it was a distraction to buy him some time. "That was lame!"

It had been a while since their fists clashed on the battlefield, and Sasuke seemed to have forgotten what crazy stamina his best friend possessed. Still, he frowned at Naruto's challenge.

Truth was, there was a stupid nagging feeling inside Sasuke's head that kept drifting back to his conversation with Sakura the other day.

" _How did you lose your memory?"_

 _He was holding his breath, and he wasn't even aware of it. She felt just as tense beside him, and if he wasn't Sasuke, it would have slid right past him. He was about to ask her another question when she started explaining._

" _Well, I'd have to go back a little bit to explain," she started quietly. "I'm not sure if you've seen it yet, but there's this extension in the hospital where we take care of children who have been traumatized by the war."_

 _She started off slowly, feeling around this thick wall of tension between them that she only had herself to blame for. On the other hand, Sasuke was already very wary about intruding into her bubble._

 _Now, Sakura did feel tremendous guilt about lying to him like this, but she knew at this point there was no turning back. She wanted to befriend and get close to him again. This was the new and improved Sasuke: now with empathy and love. But now she had to work around this stupid lie, wondering if there was ever going to be a solution to it._

 _She hoped that would be okay in the meantime._

 _What confused her, however, was why he was playing along. Part of her was truly terrified that he was just waiting for her to crack first. So, if she was going to be honest, she held a little bit of anger towards him._

" _That's the one you founded, right?" he confirmed. She blushed at his impressed tone and nodded._

 _That's the other thing, she mused. It was surprisingly difficult to stay angry at him; it actually required constant effort and looking into a mirror every day to remind herself that he was lying to her just as much as she was lying to him._

 _But still, Sakura always knew to give people the benefit of the doubt. What if he had his reasons for going along with her supposed amnesia? Maybe he just wanted a fresh start with her._

 _It was a lot to think about, and most of the time her thoughts just ran laps around her sanity. At some point, she decided it was best not to think so much about it._

" _You see," handed him the basket of groceries, which he happily took. She almost laughed; it was cute. "We specialize in psychological trauma and restoring 'childhood innocence', if you will."_

" _Psychology?" he asked simply._

" _It's a new branch of medicine. A soft science." Sakura explained happily. "You wouldn't think so because mental issues have never been considered medical problems. But it's actually a_ very _vital part of one's wellbeing."_

 _She heard him scoff; his way of saying "you have no idea…"_

" _Anyway, I was testing out a controversial treatment that involves both a physical medication and a genjutsu that is supposed to help the children replace the traumatic memories and, in theory, rid them of the post-traumatic stress disorder."_

 _As she continued to explain, Sasuke began to understand how much effort and time she had put into something so great. He wanted to tell her how highly he thought of her; he knew it was good thing to do for someone's self-esteem, especially someone you were interested in._

 _Sakura was strong, intelligent, and beautiful, and damn she knew it. It was far from the little twelve-year-old mess he knew who had very little self-respect to begin with. He knew how much he had damaged her self-esteem throughout the years, and she was apparently able to rebuild it from nothing while he was gone._

 _But Sasuke was a man of little words. If he was impressed by something, he would keep quiet. Only people who knew him well enough to notice the small smirk on his face could interpret his thoughts properly._

" _That's…" he started awkwardly. She looked up at him after he paused, hopeful eyes gleaming up at him._

 _She was beautiful._

 _Sasuke almost choked._

" _That's amazing, Sakura."_

" _That's impressive. I had no idea you've grown this much."_

" _That's interesting. Your intelligence has always been beyond mine."_

" _That's phenomenal. It must have taken you much time and effort to get where you are now."_

" _That's really cool. I love you."_

 _Those were all guaranteed to get her flustered and giddy, in theory. But Sasuke grew more and more nervous at how much time passed after he started, so instead, he finished with a lame, "neat."_

 _That's neat._

 _That was all Uchiha Sasuke had to say regarding the years of research and skill that Sakura had put into her greatest accomplishment, right next to helping save the world._

 _And instead of being angry, Sakura laughed._

 _It surprised Sasuke, who was next to her mentally scolding himself for being so damn socially awkward. But he was just so cute; she could tell he was really trying, and she didn't miss the look of embarrassment when they made eye contact._

" _Thank you," she said once her laughter died down. "Anyway, this treatment can't be undone because the genjutsu only acts as an aid to the medicine. It pinpoints the traumatic memory, while the medicine attacks the hippocampus to erase it."_

" _So why is it controversial?"_

" _Because if you erase the memory, it's gone forever. The concept is very dangerous if it's considered a weapon."_

 _They reached the checkout counter at the store, and Sasuke took a moment to digest all this new information. But one thing was still missing, "You still didn't answer my question."_

" _Hmm?"_

" _How did_ you _lose your memory?"_

" _Oh," she broke eye contact. Everything up to this point had been the truth; she felt uneasy having to start lying again. "I was experimenting with it and it backfired. I blacked out, and next thing I knew when I woke up, I had retrograde amnesia."_

" _I didn't know you knew how to cast a genjutsu."_

 _Sakura chuckled, "That's the thing, I don't." Then she froze. "How would you know?"_

 _Sasuke's breath got caught in his throat. She looked up at him suspiciously. "Uh…Naruto told me."_

 _Her gaze lingered for another moment before she dropped it. Apparently, he really didn't want her to know about their past._

" _So, that's why I asked if maybe I knew you before." She slowly explained, watching for a different reaction. Instead, he met her gaze and she felt her heart skip a beat._

 _That's enough eye contact for today, Sakura decided._

" _Hey," she broke the silence as she grabbed the bag of paid groceries. "I was going to drop off some fruits at Ino's and then head to work. Was there anything else you wanted to ask me?"_

 _Sasuke's heart sank a little. He didn't realize they had killed so much time together. He wanted to keep her around a little longer, but then he scowled: how dramatic._

" _Will I see you around?"_

 _She looked at him, quite surprised. Then she smiled, "yes."_

 _Sakura went home on cloud nine that day. But her sense of euphoria was short lived because she quickly remembered how she had sabotaged herself in the long run._

Sasuke had also asked Tsunade the next time he saw her. Even if Sakura accepted that her memory loss was irreversible, he thought perhaps the more experienced Godaime had something else to say about it.

 _Tsunade was shocked. This was the last thing she expected from Sasuke, and even more so her own disciple, Sakura. She would just have to talk to her about it later._

" _Well she is right, it is irreversible as far as we know."_

" _Hn."_

" _We've never really thought about undoing the treatment…in fact, we were hoping there was no way patients can relapse." Tsunade watched as his face fell into disappointment. "After all, trying for that seems very counterintuitive, don't you think?"_

" _Sure."_

" _However," she continued. "Perhaps you can bring her memory back. It might also be some traumatic amnesia that contributed to her forgetting_ you _in particular."_

 _Sasuke felt a little guilt tugging at his heart._

" _So…?"_

" _So, that can be treated with time and care." She concluded, hoping maybe he would just take this information and leave. It wasn't like her to play along with whatever Sakura had gotten herself into, but she figured she might as well trust her._

" _But it's not guaranteed?"_

" _Probably not."_

" _I see."_

 _Then Tsunade realized something else: Sasuke would only ask about all of this if he lied to her too. "Did you not tell her about your past together?"_

" _No," he answered too quickly. He looked up to see a very disappointed expression. "It's probably best she doesn't remember."_

"Why are you so distracted?" Naruto, now out of breath as well, straightened out of his fighting stance.

Sasuke's mind was everywhere, this much was obvious to Naruto. And though the latter believed talking about it would help (it comes with having a girlfriend, he claimed), Sasuke was more into clashing fists to clear his head.

So Sasuke growled, pulled out another kunai, and charged, "I'm not finished!"

Naruto rolled his eyes before mirroring his actions. The two exchanged a few blows before a third kunai flew right between them. Their heads turned to where it came from and they were greeted with pink.

"Hey!" she chirped. Something about the scene was very nostalgic to her, but in a way that made her happier knowing that they weren't actually trying to kill each other. She couldn't help but be in a good mood.

Sasuke, on the other hand, became a little nervous upon seeing her here. He watched her features, anticipating if this very scene would trigger something in her memory.

"I came here to give this to you," she reached into her pouch and pulled out a small scroll that was neatly tied together. "It's from Hinata. It's an invitation to a clan dinner. It seems like they're finally taking your relationship seriously."

"Ha! That's awesome!" Naruto sat down on the grass and opened the scroll.

"What?" Sakura turned to Sasuke, who had been staring at her the whole time.

"Nothing," he dismissed it.

She saw a certain look in his eyes, like he was expecting something from her. She saw it, and became a little irritated. She wondered if he would deliberately lie in front of Naruto too. "So how do you know Naruto?"

Sasuke froze, and the third musketeer looked up to see the mess he called his best friend try to come up with something to say.

Sasuke chose his words carefully. "We defeated Kaguya together in the war. The three of us."

Sakura's eyes narrowed. What was he playing at?

She knew it would be wrong to steer into the skid now, and she definitely felt the threatening aura from Naruto beside her. He was practically screaming "what the hell are you doing?!"

"Mmm, I remember," she smiled. "He's on my team. Team Kakashi: Naruto, Sai, and me."

Wow, Naruto thought. She's good.

"So, you do remember me?" he asked slowly.

"My memory of the war is a little hazy, and there were so many people who I fought alongside, but…now that you mention it, I do remember you helping us out."

"Yeah," Naruto stood up and dusted his pants. He had enough of this bullshit for today, he decided, "I'm gonna go see Hinata."

When Sakura tried to follow, he caught her arm. "Sakura."

She glanced up, meeting his dark, serious eyes. It sent shivers down her small frame. From this entire conversation and the fact that she seemed to melt under his stare, he thought maybe she was starting to remember, and that she just needed a little more push.

"You don't remember me?"

Sakura could barely breathe at this point. He was so close and intense. Her mind was racing, and all she could manage to do was shake her head in denial. She had no explanations, no excuses, no more questions left.

"Was there more to it?"

So that's all she remembered, Sasuke concluded. He let his gaze linger for another moment before he shook his head and let her arm go. "No, it's not important."

Sakura stepped back slowly, regaining her composure, before leaving without another word.

* * *

"You're unbelievable." Naruto looked up from his food as soon as Sasuke entered the room.

"What?" Sasuke frowned.

"The girl loses her memory and you blatantly lie to her. What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know; isn't it a good thing that she can't remember everything I've done?" Sasuke explained patiently.

"In what world?"

"In this one, where I've hurt her so much."

Naruto's face softened. Perhaps Sasuke wasn't just being an ass with this whole lie. But even then, it was still wrong.

"Lying is lying, Sasuke. Do you really think that's a good foundation for a relationship with her? If that's even what you want."

Sasuke set his stuff down by the couch and looked at his best friend incredulously. "What else could I want?"

"Beats me," Naruto scoffed, watching his reaction from his peripherals. "Sakura-chan is a pretty girl…"

"What are you implying?"

The jinchuuriki shrugged passively, "There's a lot of men after her because she's pretty, and powerful."

Sasuke looked like he wanted to throw up and Naruto laughed. He had him right where he wanted him.

"That bothers you, doesn't it?! You're in love with Sakura-chan!"

At first Sasuke felt his ears heat up, so he dismissed these accusations and tried to ignore it. But this only furthered Naruto's childish accusations, encouraging him to bug a confession out of him.

Sasuke sighed and decided not to stoop down to his level. Maybe if he just dropped the subject, Naruto would take the hint and talk about something else. But three minutes of "Oi! Just admit it!" later and Sasuke wanted to throw himself out the window.

"Yes, okay?"

"Wait…what?" his face fell.

"Yes, as in I'm agreeing with you." Sasuke watched him look so taken aback. "What did you want: for me to deny it repeatedly and you keep trying to pry the truth out of me? We're not kids, and I don't have time for that. Yes, I'm in love with her."

"You're a douche," Naruto's eyes narrowed. "How are you gonna win over Sakura-chan if you're a douche?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"And how are you gonna win her over by lying?"

"I don't know," he answered simply. Naruto dropped it after hearing the sincerity in his voice.

"Well anyway, that was fast. It took you like two days to fall in love with her."

Sasuke was quiet for a second.

"I thought about her a lot while I was gone." Naruto just looked at him, encouraging him to continue. "They're not feelings I've ever acknowledged or ever dealt with before, so it was unknown territory. But after a lot of thinking…" he was starting to get flustered and Naruto's grin grew.

"Yes?"

"I really do like her. She's very smart and talented, and...I'd be lying if I said she was ugly."

"So she's not ugly," the blond repeated.

Sasuke glared at him. "She's very...pretty."

Naruto resisted the urge to laugh. "Go on."

"Well I thought that was it. I thought maybe I was just infatuated with her because of all her attractive qualities."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," Naruto snickered. "There's a lot you've missed out on."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "but the more I thought about her the more I started to envision a future with her. It looked a lot less bleak for me."

Naruto spoke up again after a long pause. "That was the difference between Hinata and Sakura-chan," Sasuke looked at him earnestly. "With Sakura, I know we had a past, and in the present she's one of my best friends. But with Hinata, I saw a future. I saw something bigger for us: a house, a family…I saw myself moving on from my shitty, lonely childhood. I saw all of this with her."

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, before he smirked. "That's corny."

"It's true!" Naruto defended. "So, why don't you ask her out?"

"She…doesn't seem interested." Sasuke waved his hand dismissively. "I don't know."

"Oh," Naruto laughed. "That's just Sakura-chan for you. With all these men after her, now that the war is over and everyone's getting settled down, her default state is uninterested."

Sasuke grimaced.

"And what did you expect anyway, after everything she's been through?"

"I thought she doesn't remember anything."

"That doesn't mean that changes her character," Naruto sighed, remembering the stupid lie that was getting in the way of all of this. "I'm sure deep down, a part of her kind of remembers."

"I see," Sasuke looked down, then changed the subject again, "Why don't you do something about all those…men?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at this accusation.

"It's not my business," he laughed, pushing his finished plate away. "Sakura-chan is a big girl, she can defend herself. But hey, we're getting off topic."

Sasuke grunted in response.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"That's new; you've never asked me that before." Naruto's grin grew as Sasuke's scowled. "Get to know her. Start telling her about your past together."

"I just don't see that as an option."

"Why not?"

Sasuke glared at him as if he was asking something extremely obvious. "She'll hate me regardless."

"Right, so you have to choose the lesser of two evils. If you want her to open up to you, you have to actually _try_ , Sasuke. She's not gonna come to you."

"Hn,"

"Not anymore, anyway."


	7. Chapter 06

**A/N:** Guys, if I finish this, it'll be the first multi-chapter I've ever committed to hahaha. I don't count Ten Signs (although I adore that one) because it was easy since the chapters were numbered. I'm usually sooo bad at stories where I have to decide the length. I'm totally sticking to oneshots after this for a while hehe.

This chapter was fun. It's so much easier writing from personal experience /quiet sobbing/. School is starting soon.

Let me know what you think, my loves! Your feedback makes me blush.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 06**

It took Sasuke a grand total of three weeks to get under her skin, Sakura claimed. It could have been shorter, Sasuke thought, since most of the time, she was so busy. That, or she might have been purposely avoiding him at first.

But in the end, Sakura couldn't resist the thrill of being chased by Uchiha Sasuke. She eventually gave into his requests to spend time with her, and she can't say she regretted it. So, by the end of two weeks, he was constantly on her mind again.

It took Sakura a little longer than Naruto to realize (in which, she claimed it's because of their weird telepathy and her natural defense mechanisms) that Sasuke was interested in her, and even longer for her to recognize that he was interested _romantically_.

It just wasn't a sight Sakura ever thought she would see.

His ways of showing her that he was interested were more domestic than romantic. Sasuke was not the type of guy who would serenade her, or bring a huge bouquet of flowers – even if Sai and Naruto constantly told him he was lame – but his intentions were clear.

He knew how busy she was, for example, with her work. So, since they would hang out at her apartment some days, she would come home to dinner. It was very sweet, she would tell him, and he would have to turn away slightly to hide an oncoming blush.

Sometimes he would visit her at the hospital. So, whenever she heard the bell sound as the front door opened, Sakura's head would pop out of her office to see if it was Sasuke. And when it wasn't, Ino would pass by, laugh, and ask if she was disappointed.

Sasuke accompanied her with little errands here and there, like grocery shopping and local missions around the village, when he wasn't doing anything. She adored the company he provided, and he too found it almost essential to his life to get a daily dose of Sakura.

Eventually, Sakura had gotten used to his presence in her life; it became very comfortable to say Sasuke was her friend again. They were close enough for her to rant profusely about a bad day, or for him to bitch about something mildly annoying. His absence was noticed whenever he would choose to hang out with Naruto instead or take a mission outside the village. Similarly, Sasuke's day would sometimes feel incomplete if it lacked interaction with her.

To outside sources like Naruto, it seemed slow. Despite being very close at this point, they were just dancing around each other, it seemed – playing games and flirting like two elementary kids, instead of making shit happen.

Then again, they still had that stupid lie to account for.

When news of the Chuunin exams rolled around, Sasuke had asked her to train with him when Naruto was too busy (much to Sasuke's surprise, he did get turned down by the jinchuuriki here and there). They would train, and when she saw how much effort he actually put, it made her feel respected enough for him to go full force.

But she saw how he seemed to understand her fighting style and easily evade most of her attacks, even without his precious Sharingan activated to aid his analysis. Sakura decided not to ask him about it, for he might throw it back at her.

Actually, Sakura had given up on getting him to spill his secret when she saw how genuine he seemed in their relationship. It still sent questions running through her head faster than Lee could do laps around the village, but she didn't mind as much.

"Sorry," she grinned sheepishly. Somewhere along the line, she managed to graze his jaw with a chakra-enhanced fist, leaving a pretty bruise that decorated his face.

"Hn," he closed his eyes, sitting beside her when she motioned for him to come closer. "Lucky shot."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes with much sarcasm.

She snickered upon seeing his irritated face when he asked her to fix it, but her amusement died down when he caught her stare. She broke eye contact and pouted cutely, "I can't fix it while you're staring at me like that."

Sasuke smirked; she walked right into this one, "I didn't know I leave you _that_ hot and bothered."

And just like that Sakura made a face as if she had just been outrageously offended, and made a move to escape. He caught her wrist, laughing at how red her ears were turning, and she fell back into his lap, hands covering her face.

"Sakura," he called, unable to stop the smile on his face from her antics. He tried prying her hands off of her face, but remembered her inhuman strength. "Sakura."

"You are so incredibly full of yourself!" her voice was muffled from her hands, and Sasuke couldn't help but laugh. It was moments like this when he would forget about everything that was plaguing his mind, whenever he caught himself smiling until his cheeks hurt because of her.

"I'm sorry," he told her when his laughter was reduced to occasional chuckles. "Please fix my face."

She healed him, tongue in her cheek, as she avoided further eye contact. Her cheeks were still tainted pink. Whenever she let him look into her eyes, it felt like her entire nervous system would just shut down. She felt like he was able to look so deep into her soul, that they didn't need words to say what they meant.

His soft laughter made her heart swell, and got her smiling too. It was so melodious, it was truly something she had missed her whole life.

She finished and let her hand linger, stroking his cheek with her thumb. She gave him a warm smile, and it was Sasuke's turn to get flustered.

He wasn't sure what overcame him to make such a bold move, but when he found himself leaning towards her, he couldn't stop. She seemed surprised at first, but mirrored his actions.

A string of _"oh my god"_ s was running through Sakura's head as she prepared to kiss the man of her dreams for the first time, until-

 _Splat_.

Sakura was the first to burst into laughter, as it took Sasuke a moment to register that a bird had just dropped a load onto his soft, if not slightly sweaty, hair.

"Have you considered therapy?" He catches her eyes again after her laughter dies down. He decides he likes doing that.

Although Tsunade suggested that he should just take care of her emotionally to try to recover the memories herself, Naruto insisted he just tell her. He dismissed his best friend as impatient, but the elapsed time was starting to make Sasuke nervous.

She raised an eyebrow. Therapy for what?

Oh yeah, her amnesia.

"Yeah, I had to for work. But it was more training than it was therapy. Rather, re-exposure to my previous studies in medicine. It came back pretty fast."

"So, re-exposure does the trick?" he looked wary.

"Not necessarily," she lazily told him. "It just worked well with my medical abilities. Those are skills, Sasuke, not memories."

"Hn,"

"If you're really interested, there's books at the library." She smiled, readjusting herself so that she sat comfortably beside him. She was leaning on his shoulder, looking up at the lazy clouds above.

Sasuke nodded, and Sakura seemed glad that maybe that would end the questions for today. They sat comfortably now, just enjoying the grass beneath them and the rushing waters of the river nearby.

"That's all you remember?" he spoke up again.

"Well," she paused. "I managed to retain a lot of good memories, if that's what you're asking about. Stuff from my childhood. There's a few gaps here and there, I'm sure."

"Sounds like it's all pleasant memories." He noted hesitantly.

"I don't know if I even want to remember the bad stuff." She suddenly seemed a little cold towards him.

"You've been avoiding it?"

"I wouldn't say that…" she seemed a little annoyed. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"But…isn't that what makes you human? Doesn't that shape who you are?"

She looked up at him, intrigued. "I suppose."

He paused for a moment, like he seemed to be contemplating something. Then he spoke up again, "My entire family was killed when I was only seven."

Sakura looked more sympathetic and concerned than surprised at this news, but Sasuke continued anyway, "by my older brother. So, then I dedicated my life trying to avenge my clan. And once I finally got that, I found out that my brother had no other intentions but to protect me and my home."

She was quiet, but she had taken his hand gently and he relaxed immensely at her touch.

"There's a lot of stuff I wish I couldn't remember."

"Sasuke…"

"But, you know, if none of that happened, I would have been a completely different person. Maybe I would have been naiver, less understanding. Maybe sometimes I wish it didn't happen, so I can still have my family around. But it's part of me…every detail."

She tried to smile, but she felt tears threatening to spill. Even if she knew all of this, it meant the world to her to hear it from him. He chose to sit before her, vulnerable, and tell her his deepest secret. It really showed her how much he wanted to mend things between them.

And it hurt.

It hurt because they were still caught in this stupid lie. Because she wanted to just tell him the truth, right now. And because maybe she never really considered the fact that everything that has happened to her was for the best. He was right.

Sakura felt the sting in her eyes and the thirty foot drop of her heart before she turned away and wiped a tear aggressively. "I'm sorry."

He looked at her curiously, "You're sorry? You've done nothing but shine light into my life."

She froze. Was he about to come clean?

"What do you mean?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, as if he had just accepted his fate. "We were friends before," he admitted, afraid to look at her in the eyes.

From beside him, she giggled cutely after a moment of silence, "Why didn't you tell me before? And here I thought we were only acquaintances starting from a blank slate."

"But we are," he tried, secretly hoping she would argue, "we are now."

She shook her head, smiling, and shifted her position so that she was now laying on his stomach. Sasuke, not used to such casual, comfortable contact, flinched at first, but then he softened entirely when she smiled up at him.

"Don't worry about it. Whatever happened before is in the past. I'm glad we're friends again."

"Are…you sure?" he looked so cautious, treating her feelings like a minefield.

She shrugged. "From what I heard, I've been through a lot of pain."

Sasuke grimaced. "I'm sorry." She looked at him, surprised. He panicked, then quickly added, "I'm sorry to hear that."

Sometimes Sasuke felt like his apology back in the final valley wasn't even remotely enough. She watched as he brushed some hair off of her face from the wind, and kept his hand there. She was very soft.

"I'm sure…whoever hurt you is really sorry."

His sincerity tore through her heart. She laid a hand on his and closed her eyes. She seemed very at peace, and it lifted a huge burden off of Sasuke's heart as well. He smiled and relaxed, enjoying the rest of their afternoon in each other's presence.

* * *

As soon as Naruto found out that Sasuke and Sakura's relationship has been relieved of some tension, he jumped on the opportunity to finally have an evening for Team 7 to get together. Never mind the remaining sexual tension between them, he thought, he just wanted to see his best friends together again.

"So how did that dinner go with Hinata?" Sai asked, reaching for the bowl of food on the table.

"Oh," Naruto chuckled, almost a little cynically. "It went fantastic."

Sakura scoffed as she read the sarcasm in his voice, before Sai interrupted him. "Before you go on," he handed Sasuke a small envelope with an awkwardly drawn heart by his name. "This is for you."

"How'd you get my mail?"

"I don't know," he shrugged, earning a weird look from the Uchiha. "they seemed confused."

Sasuke carefully opened the letter and Naruto took this as a go signal to continue, "So you would think they invited me because they were finally taking our relationship seriously, right?"

"Sure."

"Nah! Even in front of me they were still talking about those chumps I'm supposedly 'up against'. Like they only invited me to judge me, I swear."

"So, did you make a good impression?" Sakura asked, already expecting a negative answer.

"Nope," he grinned. "I was annoyed, so I told them Hinata and I were already serious."

"That poor girl…" Sakura laughed bitterly. It was so typical of Naruto to have dealt with such a situation in this manner. Hinata must have been mortified.

"That was irrational." Sasuke looked up from the paper and raised an eyebrow. Naruto didn't seem to care.

"This isn't new," Sai added.

"Oh, but there's more!" Naruto straightened up in his seat. "So, her dad is getting all upset about her not obeying her roles in the clan and whatever, right? At this point I probably pissed my pants because he's so scary, but then Hinata gets up and tells him – get this – that she doesn't want to be clan leader if it means marrying some dope instead of me!"

"She said that word for word?"

"She might as well have!"

Sasuke snickered, throwing the letter back on the table to give Naruto his undivided attention again. It had been from Karin, informing him yet again on the current status of the suspicious groups plotting to use some "secret weapon". Sasuke suspected it was related to the controversial treatment Sakura had mentioned before, but it was always nice to get some intel from an outside source.

Sakura glanced at the messy writing. He had left the page with Karin's shameless flirting on the top, and Sakura felt her heart sink slowly into abyss.

"You have a lady friend?" she teased, elbowing him, despite hearing her heart shatter into a thousand pieces.

He looked at her and tried to find hurt in her face and in her tone. Instead, she was watching Naruto and Sai discuss who would make a better wife between quiet, reserved Hinata, and loud, confident Ino.

She wasn't even looking at him. Had she really moved on? "No, she's just an old friend."

"Mmm," she confirmed. She shouldn't be jealous, she told herself. She had no right to be. Yet, here she is, swimming in her own frustration.

"You still talk to her?"

Sakura just wanted to be his friend, she repeated in her head. But even then, she couldn't shake the feeling that this hurt. She wanted to be selfish, and just keep him all to herself, especially after all that they've been through. But it's not like she could just tell him; she wasn't even his girlfriend for fuck's sake.

It hurt because she knew that when she was useless to him, this girl wasn't. She felt replaced when she was broken.

This girl helped him, and he grew fond of her one way or another. And the fact that they still talk shows that she is still significant in his life. She saw the way the letters were worded; she's clearly in love with him, or whatever you can call Karin's crazy obsessive mannerism. But Sasuke encourages this, does he not see that?

Part of Sakura was happy to see that Sasuke doesn't just dump people off to the side when he's done with them, anymore. He legitimately cares about the wellbeing of others now. She remembered briefly when he just let this girl die in Danzo's hands, and didn't give half a shit about it.

But she couldn't say anything, because it wasn't her place. It was the most selfish thing she had ever thought, but part of her felt like it was within reason. After all that she had been through regarding Sasuke, now that he was showing some interest in her, a small part of her just wanted to be the only girl in his life.

Sasuke looked at her, the displeasure in her face now becoming evident. She tried to keep it from him, he noticed. He turned away to hide a smirk; so, she _was_ jealous.

"She was weird," he told her simply.

Sakura looked at him; she knew what he was doing for her, and decided to just roll with it. It was sweet, she supposed. "And she was your friend?"

"I needed her for a mission at first, but I guess I consider her my friend now."

"Huh," she seemed to be put at ease, but Sasuke decided it wasn't quite enough. He leaned towards her, enough to feel her tense up.

"I didn't like her, Sakura. You don't have to be jealous." His voice was low and perhaps a little teasing.

Suddenly she turned to him, nostrils flaring. Her cheeks were stained pink and Sasuke had to look away to hide his amusement. Her voice was unstable. "Who said I was?!"

Naruto's attention had turned to them, curious as to what had incurred Sakura's wrath this time (part of him was glad it wasn't him for once).

"I'm pretty sure she had a thing for Suigetsu," Sasuke continued, disregarding her fury. "I think they were doing it behind my back."

And just like that, she laughed wholeheartedly (Naruto sighed in relief), not only because she found the situation humorous, but because she was moved by the fact that he cared about her feelings this much.

"Ne, Sakura!" Naruto interrupted, once he saw the tension disappear. "So, calm and modest beats loud and rambunctious, right?! Tell Sai I won this argument!"

"What? That makes absolutely no sense since _you are_ loud and rambunctious." She laughed.

"Yeah, why would Sakura agree with you? She is also scary and aggressive." Sai added, smiling. Sakura growled threateningly, but she composed herself enough to answer his question.

"First of all, you can't make me choose between my friends." Naruto's face fell. "Second, they're both perfect for you nerds. Naruto, you need someone quiet and reserved to balance you out, and Sai, you definitely need someone who's more in touch with her feelings."

Naruto made a sound of defeat, but then the corners of his mouth turned up into a creepy grin, "Okay, but in bed–"

Sakura stood up, threateningly.

Sasuke and Sai winced.


	8. Chapter 07

**A/N:** BWAHAHAHA Here it is. Shit goes down. Enjoy.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 07**

"Your prince charming is waiting outside," Ino laughed.

"Huh?" Sakura looked up from a stack of papers she had been looking over to see her best friend towering over her desk, a teasing grin on her face.

"It's your lunch break, and he said he was taking you out today." The blonde explained, trying to grab the pen from Sakura's hand, who was now blushing.

"I'm…almost done." She scolded. "And I can't finish as long as you're making this harder for me."

"Oh my god, what more do you want," Ino looks at her, exasperated.

"Huh?" Sakura looked up, equally as annoyed. "What are you getting on my case for now?"

"You've been a workaholic for who knows how long –"

"Three years, Ino. It's only been three years."

"Workaholic! Three years!" she threw her hands up for emphasis. "And why? Because you so badly wanted a distraction while you waited for Sasuke to come back, and now what? He's here and you still insist on working?"

Sakura just looked at Ino, trying to maintain her face.

"Why are you so adamant against taking care of yourself emotionally?"

"I'm not," she frowned.

To be honest, Sakura really was excited that she was getting to see a lot of this Sasuke that she had always dreamed about. And she was even more happy to know that he was starting to really open up, and it was obvious how much he wanted to make amends with her. But sometimes she was still reminded that this whole thing was her fault, and she would absolutely not let Sasuke pay for her mistakes. She had a part to play in this mess too, but Sakura just wasn't sure how she would own up to it.

"Go have lunch with your boyfriend, stupid forehead," before she knew it, Ino was shoving her out the door.

"You're mean."

"I do it because I love you."

Ino had known about the situation for a couple weeks now. She was the first one who found out through Sakura herself, as opposed to Naruto and Tsunade who were approached by the Uchiha. At first, Ino was pissed at Sakura for messing up ("where did you pull that out of: your ass?!"). Then she was pissed at Sasuke for lying to her ("What a liar! Kick his ass!"). But in the end, she was angry at both of them for being so dense.

Sakura decided she liked her male friends' reactions better.

But when Sakura found him waiting in the reception room, she gave him a warm smile, and forgot everything she was worried about.

"So," he started, but then hesitated. He looked up at her nervous, yet curious face, and he knew it was too late to take it back. "There seem to be a lot of men interested…you know, in you."

Sasuke wished he could get up and run away as soon as those words gracefully slipped out of his mouth.

Sakura choked on her own spit. "Yeah." He shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, it's understandable. Now that there is no huge impending doom looming above our heads, people want to settle down."

"Hn,"

"What about them?" she leaned over to watch his expression as the waitress delivered their food.

"Who are they?"

She raised her eyebrows. He knows the answer to this question. "I don't know. Men who are interested in me," she answered dismissively, hoping he would just change the subject after that.

"Suitors?"

"I suppose."

"Why don't you answer them?" he wondered why he was even pressing on this issue; it wasn't even his business. But she was letting him push it, and he was just so damn curious.

Sakura straightened up, accepting that he was insistent on discussing her almost nonexistent love life.

"Well," she began, and as soon as she started, she realized she didn't even know the answer to this question. It was an awkward question coming from Sasuke, and on top of that, there was no way she would give him some pathetic answer like 'I'm just waiting for you'.

"I guess," she continued, breaking eye contact. "I'm just not interested in a relationship." Sakura considered adding "-with them" but then decided against it once he just raised an eyebrow and provided no further comments.

Sakura sighed, and turned her attention back down to her food.

"Then tell them to stop wasting their time." She looked up at him again, surprised. He seemed a little aggravated, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. She had to fight the urge not to laugh at how cute he was being.

What even happened for him to start saying this stuff?

Sasuke had been thinking about this for a while now. Sometimes Sai and Naruto would hint that Sakura wouldn't wait for him forever, and that there were plenty of men waiting at her feet. He ignored it at first because of how insecure he felt: he believed even as a redeemed man, he doesn't deserve her.

And in all honesty, sometimes he believed that she only hung out with him this much because she thought he was a good friend.

Really, Naruto would sigh, even with his Sharingan, he still couldn't see shit.

"Sasuke-kun," she giggled. "Just eat."

He was surprised by the suffix she attached to his name. He hadn't heard in the longest time, and all of a sudden, he feels eased enough to eat.

"So," she started, sounding less wary than five minutes ago, "Tell me another story."

Since Sasuke had admitted they have a history together, Sakura had been asking him to tell her stories. It was no longer with the intention to catch him in the act of lying, but rather, she felt an unexplainable sense of happiness to know that he had cherished these memories with her in their past.

He started today with the story of when they tried to find out what was under Kakashi's mask. She listened intently, laughing when appropriate. Although he was being honest with her, Sasuke still tried his best to leave out all the parts where he knew he hurt her. She never asked about it, so he didn't have to lie; he simply didn't mention it.

They were becoming very comfortable with the idea of starting over, but even more wary about its long-term effects on their relationship.

After all, the truth would come out eventually.

She found him on the training grounds the next day. At first, her eyes scanned the field to find some orange, but he was indeed all alone.

"Good morning," she said happily.

"Sakura," he greeted.

"What's bothering you?" she seated herself next to him. "You look angrier than usual."

Sasuke hesitated for a moment. "I have to tell you something." Then he corrected himself, "I _should_ tell you something."

Sakura contemplated on excusing herself and leaving before this got messy, but decided against it when he looked so sincere and nervous. "I'm listening."

"Well uh," Sasuke mentally scolded himself. He was off to a great start with all this stuttering. "I think…you fight well. I'm sure you already know that. I mean…you could be better though. There's always room for improvement."

Sakura's anxiety was eased with this mess of a speech. A cute smile was beginning to form on her face, making him even more nervous.

"You're pouting because you think my fighting skills are subpar." She was joking, but he took her seriously.

"No, no, um, I wanted to say…I really…admire you, and everything you've been through." He was taking so many pauses in between, Sakura was at the edge of her seat.

"Okay," she urged him to continue, fighting a blush. She poked his shoulder, "So, you like me."

Sasuke's natural defense mechanism suddenly kicked in, and he grew defensive, "That's presumptuous."

Sakura's face fell. She wondered if the rest of the Rookie 11 was this awkward too. She would have been single forever.

"I'm sorry," she yielded, "continue."

When he remained silent instead, she decided to help him out. "Where were you going with this?"

"You know what I was getting at," he snapped.

"Wait, I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun." He seemed to relax at his name. "I'm confused."

He softened up significantly, shooting her a look of guilt for snapping at her. He was annoyed, but it was mostly with himself. "Me too."

She wanted to laugh, but figured he was being very touchy today. Whatever it might have been to dampen his mood, she would probably just find out later if she didn't make it worse. So instead, she opted to change the subject.

"Hey, so Tenten said Gai-sensei was going to treat some of us for dinner tonight. Did you wanna come?"

He looked at her softly, touched that she felt inclined to invite him to matters involving her friends. "Thank you, but there's just a lot on my mind."

Sakura nodded in acknowledgement; so, he _was_ upset about something. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He considers for a moment, if this was the perfect opportunity to bring it up. "Nah," he decided. "I just need some time to think."

She doesn't pry, but when she reassures him that she's there for him, something inside Sasuke felt the urge to just tell her right then and there. He smiles warmly at her and reaches for her face.

Frozen, Sakura just stares into his carefully studying eyes.

And at that moment, Sasuke realizes that he really wants to spend the rest of his life with this girl. He saw his old house being renovated – something Sasuke never thought he would ever want to go back to – with her, with their kids. He saw himself waking up to her every morning, and going to sleep with her by his side.

He didn't feel lonely with her anymore. Sure, Naruto filled a large chunk of the gaping hole in his heart, but it was Sakura who filled in the missing spaces after. Spaces he never quite understood himself, and never thought would be filled again.

Sasuke wanted to smile, but he was so caught up in the moment, mesmerized by both her beauty in this light, and by the realization that just hit him.

She began to get flustered, ears turning a bright shade of red. She broke the silence with an awkward "What?"

Sasuke, slightly annoyed that she had interrupted his thoughts (they were about her, how could she be so ungrateful?), drops his hand and turns away, feeling his own face warm up.

"You have something in your teeth."

Sakura retreated immediately, embarrassed.

* * *

"So, you didn't tell her."

"No," Sasuke answered easily.

"You're crazy." Naruto dismissed him, claiming his spot on the couch. Sasuke sat himself down on the other side of the couch, staring at his best friend – his way of saying they weren't done talking about this.

Naruto looked at him, amused. "Hey, remember when we were young, and you were so edgy, and always refused to tell me anything?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Why are you bringing this up?"

"It's just funny, you've grown so much." Sasuke scoffed as the television turned on to show the news. "So, why _didn't_ you follow through? At this rate, you'll be single forever and you'll lose her to Gaara."

"What…Gaara…?!"

"Oh, Naruto looked like he had accidentally revealed the game plan to the enemy. He squirmed uncomfortably; guess there was no turning back now. Sasuke being open and talking about his feelings was not an everyday occurrence; he couldn't mess this up. "Yeah, he writes to me."

Sasuke just looked at him, a threatening aura beginning to build.

"Don't ask me, I don't know!" Naruto put his hands up in defeat. "They both kind of just dropped it after a while and I never heard about it again."

Sasuke looked a bit like a baby who just got their candy taken away, and Naruto had to try not to laugh. This man was such a mess.

"Okay, that's exactly my point, so," he repeated, "why didn't you follow through?"

"I don't know," Sasuke shrugged. "It didn't feel right."

Naruto rolled his eyes, honestly getting quite tired of the irony of everything and having to keep Sakura's secret. Then Sasuke continued, "I don't want her to think I'm this amazing person who will take care of her, and never hurt her or make her cry."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Is that not what you intend on doing?"

"No, no," Sasuke corrected quickly. "I do want to be with her, and make things right. But she just has this false idea of me in her head, it's not fair to her."

The blond rolled his eyes, playing along. "Sure."

Sasuke was quiet again, and then he seemed to realize something.

"If she knows I'm terrible, and she _still_ loves me, then it'll feel right."

* * *

Naruto smiled as Hinata laughed at something he had said. His hands were in his pockets; he was seemingly calm.

His left hand, however, was fumbling inside his pocket with a small diamond ring.

He was going to propose to her tonight.

Naruto thought for a moment, fighting the urge to laugh at himself. He had been picking on Sasuke all this time because he was so awkward around Sakura, yet he had been stalling for the last hour and a half and couldn't bring himself to ask his girlfriend of two years a simple question.

He took a deep breath, "Hey," he grabbed her attention. She looked up at him, smiling and everything, and his breath got caught in his throat as he began to stutter, "uh…"

She giggled cutely at his antics, and he lost it. In a swift motion, he pulled her closer and kissed her. The other hand closed around the ring in his pocket. When he broke away, he looked at her seriously, "I love you."

"I love you too,"

His heart rate was increasing every second. It was now or never. He was about to pull it out of his pocket, when they both sensed a third presence.

"Oh," Sakura stopped dead in her tracks. "Wow, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something?"

"Sakura-chan," Naruto's free hand shot up to scratch the back of his head. He grinned cheekily, hiding the fact that he was pretty flustered. "What are you doing here?"

"Sasuke-kun told me to meet him here," she explained. "But, it looks like this spot is already taken!" she tried to leave, but Hinata stopped her instead.

"It's alright, Sakura-san," she took Naruto's hand and they took off in the other direction. She looked back at her friend and smiled knowingly, "Good luck!"

Sakura sighed, leaning against the railing.

She wasn't sure why Sasuke had asked her to meet him by this bridge. If it was something serious, she tried to prepare herself as much as she could, but in the end, she was still incredibly nervous.

He arrived and asked her how long she had been waiting.

"I haven't been here very long," she shrugged, watching as he approached her carefully. "Although, I think I kicked Naruto and Hinata out of their spot."

Sasuke looked at her, surprised. "Oh."

"Why?"

"Nothing, nothing." He waved a hand dismissively. "He'll tell you next time."

Sakura seemed to accept this. "So, why did you want to meet me here this late?"

He suddenly looked nervous, "There's something I wanted to show you."

"What…" she looked down at _the bench_ as soon they stopped in front of it.

He watched her carefully, waiting for her to say something that he could go off of. Or at least, he was hoping for some sort of expression that indicated her memory being triggered. Instead, she looked at him, full of questions.

"Sakura," he started, and he realized that she was just as nervous as he is. "I want you to remember everything, exactly as it was."

She stayed silent, her eyes forming tears. She took a deep breath and let him finish.

"You deserve to know, even if you didn't deserve the pain that came with it." He took a step closer to her and she didn't flinch, so his confidence grew. "Please don't be mad that I lied to you. I just didn't know what to do at first. I hurt you so much, and I wanted to make things right, but when you told me that you didn't remember me…it seemed like you were better off not knowing who I was."

A tear fell from her eyes and she made no move to stop it. Sasuke wasn't sure if he should continue, but the silence was so unnerving.

"Yet…I couldn't stay away from you. And before I knew it," he averted his gaze, feeling his anxiety at an all-time high. He frowned at how cheesy he sounded right now, "I realized…I really like you."

She sniffed loudly, using the back of her hand to wipe away the excess tears. "And I realized it wasn't the best idea to keep our past a secret, if I really wanted a future with you."

Sakura's world started spinning, fast. She felt a huge wave of terror and excitement hit her all at once, and then leave her as fast as it came, leaving her shook in its wake.

"So," he began, "I thought I'd take you here."

She looked at the bench again, and back to him.

She was still quiet, so he gently moved her to face him. "The day I left Konoha…you tried to stop me. You stood…right…" he shifted her an inch to the right, then a centimeter to the left, and she laughed bitterly, "right there."

Sasuke took a deep breath.

"You asked me why I never told you anything – why I always kept secrets. I told you," he watched as she winced at his words, "I didn't have to tell you anything, and to stay out of my business."

He took a few steps back to recreate the scene.

"You told me about the good times we shared when we were a genin team, and…I told you I didn't remember, even if I did. I didn't want to give you false hope. I didn't want to hurt you more than I already was."

Sakura was crying again.

Sasuke closed his eyes and continued, "I told you that for a while I thought I might have been able to stay with you three, but in the end I chose revenge – that that had always been my reason to live. That I could never be like the two of you.

"You said I didn't have to be alone. That you understood what I felt, and if I left, you would feel the same loneliness." He turned around. "I couldn't look at you. I would have never been able to leave."

"Then you told me that you were in love with me, and begged me to stay," his voice was getting softer, as he tried to keep his cool. "You said…'I'm so in love with you, I can't stand it. If you would only be with me, I promise you'd never regret it.'"

Sakura's eyes widened. He remembered her speech that day, word for word. "I can give you happiness. I'll do any-"

"I'll do anything for you," she interrupted, her tears flowing freely now. "So please, I beg you, don't walk away. I'll even help you. I'll do whatever it takes, I swear. So…stay here with me. And if you can't, Sasuke…then take me with you."

Sasuke turned around abruptly, shock evident in his face. She walked over to him, continuing, "Then you said, 'you haven't changed; you're still annoying'."

He watched her try to wipe the tears all over her face.

"You…you remember?"

Her sobbing got worse instead, and it looked more like she was upset than happy to remember everything, confusing the young man. Had he made the right choice? This is why he never wanted to tell her. But then she sniffed again, composing herself enough to come clean.

"Sasuke…I never forgot."


End file.
